In Betrayal, I Trust
by Caley3324
Summary: James Potter has a sister...what fun.
1. Chapter 1

~Jen's POV~

It could have been worse, I suppose. But, I highly doubted it. This song made absolutely no sense at all. Who wants to hear a song about a musically inclined robin? Muggles, apparently. Professor Flitwick, who doubled as the choir instructor, had insisted that for the welcome-back feast this year, we do one Muggle song and one wizarding song. So, all of the Muggle-born choir members voted on a song and we wizarding-music people voted on another. In the end, we chose _Double Trouble_ and _Rockin' Robin_, which was by some music group called Jackson5. Professor Flitwick called it "meshing cultures". I called it "dumb beyond belief".

And, to make matters worse, I had the lead.

"He rocks in the treetops all day long, hoppin' and a-boppin' and singin' his song. All the little birdies on Jaybird Street, love to hear the robin go tweet tweet tweet; rockin' robin."

I took a breath before I continued, skipping to the next verse. "Every little swallow, every chick-a-dee, every little bird in the tall oak tree; the wise old owl, the big black crow, flappin' their wings singin' go bird go; rockin' robin."

I decided that would be it, for the time being. I was having a hard enough time trying to get the rhythm down. Cursing Professor Flitwick, I set the music down and flopped onto my bed, ready for a quick nap before supper.

"JENNIFER! JAMES!"

"So much for that," I sighed as I got off of my bed and headed for the door. I already knew what our mum wanted; to make sure that all our bags were packed and to give James his usual warning against trouble-making (as if it ever did any good).

My brother was waiting for me at the top of the stairs, a goofy grin on his face. The shock from being made Head Boy apparently still hadn't worn off. Then again, it hadn't worn off from me, either. Of all the seventh year boys, why James?

"Three guesses what she wants," he said as we headed down the steps together.

"I only need one," I replied. "Can I apparate with you tomorrow instead of going with Mum or Dad?"

"You'll probably have to have Remus do it," he replied. "I've never side-along apparated before."

"Yeah, you'd probably splinch me."

He rolled his eyes and reached out to mess with my hair, but I had already ducked out of reach. Our mum was waiting at the bottom of the steps, her arms crossed over her chest, a smile on her face. "There you both are. Now, I just wanted to make sure that you have everything packed."

"We do," James and I replied at exactly the same time. People always thought that we were twins; we had the same jet black hair, same hazel eyes, and same facial features. We both also had a knack for rule-breaking and a love of Quidditch. But, we were born a little over a year apart.

"And you don't need me to pop into Diagon Alley for any last-minute supplies?" she asked. "You've both checked your potions ingredients lists and your schoolbook list and-"

"We're good, Mum," James said impatiently. His friends – Peter, Remus, and Sirius – were waiting upstairs in his room. I could just imagine them in there, trying to plan their next big prank. Their last big prank had gotten them all a full two months' detention, so this next one should be good.

"We have everything," I said a little more gently. It was James' last year at Hogwarts and my last year was only a year after that. She was slowly losing her babies. "We both checked and double-checked."

She smiled, tears shining in her light brown eyes. "Good for you both. Okay, then. Supper should be ready here shortly."

We took that as our dismissal and took the stairs at a slight run, just in case she thought of something else. "We're all in there working on Quidditch plans if you want to join us," James offered.

I shook my head. "I'd love to, you know I would, but I really have to get this song down for the feast tomorrow. It's bad enough that I have to sing a blasted Muggle song; I don't want to make a fool of myself while I'm at it."

"We can't have that," he grinned and headed down the hallway and towards his room. "Good luck, rockin' robin."

If I'd had something in my hand then, I would have thrown it right at his head. But, then again, as a Seeker, my forte was catching things, not throwing them. I probably would have missed. But I still would have given it a go.

~James POV~

I stepped back into my room and closed the door behind me. "Sorry about that, mates. My mum was being…"

"A mum?" Remus supplied.

"Exactly." I plopped down and immediately began poking at the figured on the model Quidditch pitch. "Anyone come up with anything?"

"I haven't been trying," Remus responded without a hint of remorse. Quidditch had never been his thing. He came to the matches to support Gryffindor as well as Jen and I, but he preferred to read and (gag) do homework.

"I have," Peter said, always eager to please. "But I'm not quite sure how to solve your Keeper problem."

I shuddered. "There _is_ no solving it. I'm just going to have to hope that someone better than William Harris tries out this year. He almost cost us the Cup."

"Because of my rat's arse of a brother," Sirius said, his tone acidulous. He considered me more his brother than Regulus. That held especially true now that he lived in the same house as me.

"It wasn't his fault," I had to admit. "If I'd been in his position, I would have done the same thing."

"You would have been more noble about it."

"Perhaps." I replied. "I'm just glad that he knocked William off of his broom and not my sister." If he had tried that with Jennifer, I would have taken him out, regardless of the consequences. Yeah, I'm _that_ older brother.

"He wouldn't have been able to," Sirius shrugged as he prodded the Jennifer-look-alike with his wand. "She's too good of a flyer. Better than him, by far."

I refrained from commenting. Yes, Jennifer was a hell of a flyer, but so was Regulus. During the match, he'd been just a blur on that field, weaving between players as if they weren't even moving. And he _had_ caught the Snitch before my sister. Between the two of them, I actually didn't know who was the better.

"Let's focus on the task at hand," I said. "Name the remaining members of the team, by position."

"You still have your Seeker," Remus said immediately, his nose still in the Transfiguration book. He was taking these N.E.W.T.s _way_ too seriously.

"That's a given," I said. "Continue."

"Two of the Chasers," Peter jumped in. "You and Diego."

I nodded. "We lost Chaney. Go ahead."

"You need a Keeper," Sirius said timidly, "but the old one is still around, if you want him."

I shuddered though the room was actually quite comfortable. "Let's hope for a better one."

"And the Beaters," Sirius replied. "They'll only be going into their fourth year."

Drake and Kevin Weston were gems. They were as ferocious as many of the Beaters that played for the Quidditch World Cup. "They'll be huge assets. Okay, so, given that information, what do you think the best course of action would be?"

We all thought for a minute; Remus about Transfiguration and the rest of us about my question. Finally, Sirius said, "It's hard to say without a Keeper."

"Let's say I have to keep William," I said with a face. I really hoped that didn't happen.

Sirius' face mirrored mine. "Well, then, I'd say that you'd need a pretty good game plan. Slytherin was good last year and they won't be losing any players."

That was true and oh so unfortunate for us. "So what do we do?"

"Play to your strengths," Remus suggested.

"Jen," Peter, Sirius, and I said at the same time.

"Without a Keeper," Sirius explained, "it would be really stupid to just try to score as much as you can. Slytherin's Keeper is good and their Chasers are, too. The best course of action would be to have Jen catch the Snitch as fast as she can and end the match."

I nodded. "Sounds about right. Now, our only problem is your brother."

Sirius shrugged. "Hopefully, you'll get a good Keeper."

"And another Chaser that can keep up with Diego and me," I sighed. It was my last year on Gryffindor's Quidditch team and I wanted it to be epic.

"Is that your sister singing?" Remus asked suddenly.

We all grew quiet and listened.

"_Pretty little raven at the bird-band stand, told them how to do the bop and it was grand. They started going steady and bless my soul, he out-bopped the buzzard and the oriole;"_

I smiled. My sister had a voice like an angel, always had. I hadn't heard anyone able to out-sing her ever, even when there'd been that huge choir competition between Hogwarts and two other wizarding schools. "Yeah, that's her," I replied. "They have to sing a Muggle song at the feast."

"Why?" Peter asked, scrunching his nose just like a rat would.

I shrugged. "She said that Professor Flitwick wanted to "merge cultures" or something like that."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "He would."

Her voice rolled into our ears from down the hall. _"Blow, rockin' robin, cause we're really gonna rock tonight."_

"And that's our fierce warrior," Sirius grinned. "Our best hope of winning the Quidditch Cup this year."

I laughed. "Yeah, that's her. That's her."


	2. Chapter 2

~James' POV~

Remus woke me the next morning by shaking my shoulder. "James, come on. It's time to get up."

When I sat up, I could smell bacon that Mum was cooking downstairs. Groggily, I yawned and stretched my arms above my head. "Wake Sirius up, would ya?"

"He's already awake," said Remus as he headed for his suitcase to stuff the rest of his things inside. "He was awake as soon as your Mum started to cook bacon."

I looked to the other side of the room, where Remus, Peter, and Sirius had slept. All three beds were empty. "Peter?"

"Sirius made him go downstairs, too. Said he didn't want to just barge in and demand breakfast."

I rolled my eyes. "Like Mum would have minded. Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No," he said and zipped his suitcase up. "Wanna go down now?"

"I'm gonna take a shower real fast," I said as I swung my feet over the side of my bed. "You go ahead. And tell Mum that I'll wake Jennifer up."

He nodded and left the room. I took a quick shower and then pulled on my trousers and shirt. I wouldn't put my tie or my robe on until after I ate; I needed my Head Boy's badge to have all the attention, not a bacon grease stain.

I knocked once on Jen's door and when she didn't respond, I opened the door and stepped in. I could hear her voice singing, so I froze.

"In the cauldron, boil and bake. Fillet of a fenny snake. Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf…." She came out of the bathroom dressed in only a white robe, her hair wrapped in a towel. When she saw me, she froze, eyes wide.

"Umm…" I said, heat creeping up to my cheeks. It was way too much. Even though nothing was really showing, I still felt like things were…showing.

"James," she said in what I suspected was a forced-calm voice. "Can I help you?"

"Just making sure you're awake."

She gestured at herself. "Clearly."

I nodded and stepped back towards the door. "Great. See you downstairs for breakfast." And then I dashed out of the room and down the stairs. Merlin, that had been embarrassing.

I took a seat at the large table and began to pour myself a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Morning, sweetheart," Mum said as she sent a plate of pancakes and bacon towards me.

"Morning," I replied and reached for the butter.

"I have to go check on our plants," she said, setting the spatula down. "I'll be right back in."

"Take your time," I responded.

As soon as the door had shut behind her, Sirius looked at me from across the table. "You okay, mate? You look like you've seen a Death Eater."

I took a breath and asked the question that had been on my mind ever since I'd seen Jen that morning. "When did Jen become…" but I couldn't finish.

Remus raised an eyebrow at me. "Become what?"

I breathed again and then leaned forward, lowering my voice as if I were telling them a precious secret. "A woman?"

Remus began laughing and Sirius raised an eyebrow before reaching across the table to put a hand on my forehead.

"I'm not sick!" I insisted, slapping his hand away. "It's just that…well…I've never noticed that she has…"

"Boobs?" Sirius supplied.

"That's my sister!" I said, even though that's exactly what I'd been trying to say.

He smiled. "Calm down, mate."

I looked him right in the eyes. "Tell me the truth, okay?"

"About what?" he asked nonchalantly as he put more bacon on his plate.

"Is she…is she attractive?" I asked. "I mean, I know she's pretty, but I'm her brother and I can't…"

He laughed. "Yes, James, your sister is bloody good-looking, if that's what you're asking."

I breathed out and put my head on the table. "Guys are going to be all over her…"

"They already are, if you haven't noticed," Remus said. "She's had boyfriends before, James."

"But none of them were serious," I said, forgetting completely about my food. "But she's going into her sixth year and she's bound to fall in love soon…"

"I like you better when you're stressed about Quidditch," Remus decided.

I glared but before I could say anything, Jen came into the room, dressed in her school robes with her Prefect's badge pinned on. Her hair was curled and she wore makeup (when had she started wearing makeup?). "Morning, guys," she said as she headed into the kitchen.

"Morning," Sirius said around a mouthful of bacon.

"Good morning," Peter squeaked.

"Jen," Remus responded politely.

I stared at my plate and then back up, but she wasn't looking at me.

"Sirius, manners," Jen said with a roll of her eyes.

Sirius winked at me. "Yes, ma'am."

"Love the sarcasm," she replied. "Remus?"

"Yes?"

"Could you side-along apparate with me?"

Remus thought for a moment and then nodded. "Sure."

"Great."

I began to rapidly fill my mouth with bacon.

~Jen's POV~

I gasped for air desperately. Apparating felt like all of the air was being squeezed out of my lung.

"Alright?" Remus asked me, touching my arm.

I straightened up and took a deep breath. "Just not used to that yet."

He smiled. "You better before you take the test in October."

"I'll get it by then," I insisted and then heard my roommates calling my name. "See you in the Prefect's car."

He nodded. "See you."

I ran off to join my friends and immediately, Cassie wrapped me in a hug. "You hardly wrote all summer!"

Being hugged by Cassie was just like apparating – all of the air got squeezed out of your lungs. "I'm…sorry…" I gasped out. "I thought…you'd be busy…in Egypt."

Beth laughed. "Cass, she can't breathe."

Cassie let go of me and stepped back, smiling. She looked exactly the same as always, long dyed blonde hair and pale green eyes. She'd gotten skinnier over the summer (she always did; her parents were some kind of doctor and they didn't like her eating sweets) but she was otherwise the same.

Beth stepped forward, her ponytail of dirty blonde hair swinging slightly. "Hey," she smiled. "Pleasant summer?"

I hugged her. "Very pleasant. Yours?"

She shrugged. "Average."

Emma stepped up then and hugged me before stepping back. When I looked at her face, I could see that she'd been crying; her brown eyes were dark and she had bags under her eyes. "Emma!" I gasped. "What's wrong?"

Instead of answering, she began crying again. Beth stepped toward her and hugged her, giving me an apologetic smile.

Kendra, the last roommate, stepped forward and held out a sheet of paper. "This will explain it."

And it did. Emma had gotten Poor in Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts, meaning that she couldn't advance to the N.E.W.T. classes and she wouldn't be able to become an Auror.

"Oh, Emma," I sympathized, stepping towards her and hugging her.

"I've wanted to be an Auror since I was five!" she cried into my shoulder.

"I know," I soothed. "But you'll figure it out. You're brilliant." And she was, in a way. But I'd never really seen her as the Auror type.

"I didn't do well in Potions or Defense either," Kendra said. Then again, she didn't need to. She wanted to work as a journalist for the _Daily Prophet_.

"Me either," Cassie said, which wasn't surprising at all. Cassie wanted to work for the Ministry in Muggle Relations, so she'd never been interested in Potions or Defense.

Beth looked at me and nodded at my questioning look. So, Beth and I were the only ones of the Gryffindor sixth year girls that were moving on to the N.E.W.T. Defense and Potions classes.

"We should get a seat," Beth said. "Come on, Emma. You have Prefect duties?"

I nodded at her. "Just for a little while. I'll see you guys later."

They boarded the train before me and then I got on, heading for the car where the Head Boy and Girl (my brother and the girl that he'd been in love with since first year) would give us instructions.

On the way, I was broadsided by someone and then there was a sneer. "Out of the way, Potter."

I looked up to see Dolohov – a Slytherin that I despised – standing over me, looking at me with dark eyes. I gave him the dirtiest look I could. "Go to hell, Dolohov."

He laughed and then moved along. As I picked myself up, I tripped and I would have fallen flat on my face if someone hadn't grabbed my arm.

"Thank you so-" I said but then stopped when I saw who had caught me.

Regulus.

Sirius' brother.

He nodded stiffly at me. "You're welcome." And then he melted into the crowd.

_Weird_, I thought as I finally reached the compartment and took a seat beside Remus. After a few more minutes, James and Lily stood at the front and began to speak as the train moved forward.

"Hi, everyone," Lily said in a bright voice, giving us all a pleasant smile. "I hope you all had wonderful summers. For the new Prefects, welcome. I'd just like to start by telling everyone the passwords for their individual houses, starting with Hufflepuff. It's-"

"You okay?" Remus whispered.

I shrugged. "Ran into Dolohov."

His eyes widened. "Did he-"

"I'm fine," I hurried to say. "Don't tell James. It would look bad if the Head Boy got detention before classes even started."

Remus nodded and faced the front again.

"Okay," James said after the passwords had all been given. "I trust that you all know your schedules and when you're supposed to be patrolling. If you have any questions or concerns, please come and see either Lily or me."

Remus and I looked at each other.

"Lily wrote that little speech for him," I whispered.

"Totally," he agreed and we both smiled at my brother, who turned a shade of red.


	3. Chapter 3

~James' POV~

The Sorting had just ended and now the choir stood up at the front, Jen slightly out front because she was the lead. Judging by her body language, I could tell that she would rather be fending off Death Eaters than sing the song that she was about to have to sing.

And then the music started and she took a breath. "He rocks in the treetops all day long, hoppin' and a-boppin' and singin' his song. All the little birdies on Jaybird Street, love to hear the robin go tweet tweet tweet; rockin' robin."

The rest of the choir was supplying background, saying "Tweet, tweet, tweetle-a-tweet."

She started the second verse. "Every little swallow, every chick-a-dee, every little bird in the tall oak tree; the wise old owl, the big black crow, flappin' their wings singin' go bird go; rockin' robin."

Surprisingly, I found myself nodding along with the music. It really wasn't a bad song. It was kind of upbeat and happy. Sirius, next to me, was tapping the table with the rhythm. Peter and Remus sat across from me, both of them nodding their heads along.

"Pretty little raven at the bird-band stand, told them how to do the bop and it was grand. They started going steady and bless my soul, he out-bopped the buzzard and the oriole;"

I decided that it really wasn't a bad song, even if Jen thought it was embarrassing. But, she was up there tapping her leg, smiling. She was a natural performer. "He rocks in the treetops all day long, hoppin' and a-boppin' and singin' his song. All the little birdies on Jaybird Street, love to hear the robin go tweet tweet tweet; rockin' robin."

"You're sister is really good."

I looked over to the side and was surprised to see Lily Evans sitting next to me. "Umm… Thank you."

She smiled and continued listening to Jen sing.

The song ended and everybody clapped as Professor Flitwick made his way to the front of the choir as Jen stepped back into her place on the front row.

"Now," he said in his squeaky voice. "We will be singing _Double Trouble_."

Everyone clapped and then the music began.

"Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble. Double, double toil and trouble; something wicked this way comes."

All around, students were mouthing the words, some of them wishing that they could sing well enough to be in choir. But not me; I much preferred Quidditch. But I did think that my sister was talented to be so good at both.

"Eye of newt and toe of frog. Wool of bat and tongue of dog. Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting. Lizard's leg and owlet's wing."

I sometimes wondered what this song really was. A recipe to a potion maybe?

"Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble. Double, double toil and trouble; something wicked this way comes."

A bad potion. One that could be used in a prank…

"In the cauldron boil and bake; fillet of a fenny snake. Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf, witch's mummy, maw and gulf."

The music grew louder as the end of the song drew near.

"Double, double toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Double, double toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Double, double toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Something wicked this way comes!"

The song concluded and the choir began to make their way back to their seats. Jen got many compliments on the way and she smiled and thanked everyone before plopping into the seat beside me. "Let's get this feast started."

"You're my kind of girl," Sirius said.

I gave him a look.

"Oh, come on," he whispered. "I don't fancy your sister."

"You said she was good-looking this morning."

"You _asked_ me to."

Remus, who was in a conversation with Jen and Peter, kicked us both under the table and we jumped into the conversation eagerly.

And then, Dumbledore stepped forward and everyone fell quiet. Everybody, even the slimiest Slytherin, had respect for Albus Dumbledore. And, beyond commanding respect, something in his demeanor just demanded to be listened to. "Welcome to another year," he said, his voice sweeping over the hall. "I trust that you all had pleasant summers and I am delighted that you've returned safe and sound. Before we begin our feast, I would like to remind every one of you-" here he looked at the Marauders "that the Forbidden Forrest is not to be entered. Also, I would like to introduce the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Bauer."

A man in sleek black robes stood up and smiled at all of us. He was tall, with flaming hair and piercing eyes.

"Think this one will last?" Sirius asked ominously.

"Sirius, there's no curse," Remus rolled his eyes.

"Fact," Sirius said as he leaned forward. "No Defense Against the Dark Arts professor has lasted more than a year since twenty years ago."

Remus shrugged. "Bad luck."

"If you say so."

"Let the feast, begin!" Dumbledore said.

Jen's eyes lit up as food filled the previously empty platters and bowls. "Finally!" she said. "I'm starving!"

~Jen's POV~

I ate until I was stuffed and then sighed happily. "I love being back here."

Beth glared at me. "Sometimes, I really don't like you."

"Why?"

"Because you ate all that food and come tomorrow morning, you won't have gained a pound."

All of my roommates laughed.

Dumbledore, at the front, said, "And now, you should all be off to bed. I hope each of you has a wonderful first day tomorrow."

"I do, too," Beth muttered.

"I have a feeling that I won't," Emma said nervously.

I patted her back gently. "It'll be okay, Emma. You'll figure it out."

She sighed. "I suppose."

"Come on," I said. "Let's beat everyone else to the Common Room so that we won't have to wait behind all the excited first years."

We all headed for the direction of the Common Room, talking and laughing along the way.

"You did brilliantly, by the way," Beth told me. "That song about the bird was actually quite enjoyable. I had no idea that Muggles could write songs that good."

"We're not stupid, you know," Cassie said. Even though she was a witch, she still considered herself a Muggle.

"I never said that," Beth replied.

"Hippogriff," I said to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

She smiled and toasted me with an imaginary glass. "That's correct." And then she swung forward.

"The Fat Lady," Kendra sighed as she entered the common room. "My least favorite part of Hogwarts other than Professor Slughorn. They both get on my nerves."

"Professor McGonagall bothers me," Emma said. "She's far too strict."

"Peeves," Cassie said. Cassie was often the object of Peeves' cruel pranks and I could understand her hatred of him. Peeves never gave me any trouble, however. In fact, he often asked me (along with the Marauders) for advice on his next big prank and he was always eager to lend a mischievous hand.

Beth opened the door to our dorm and said, "Slytherins."

I walked straight to my suitcase to grab pajamas and when I straightened up, I noticed that they were all staring at me. "What?"

"Well?" Kendra asked. "What do you hate about Hogwarts?"

I thought for a moment. "I think you guys stole all of mine."

They laughed and I went to go take a shower and pull on my pajamas. I dried my hair by magic and then curled up in bed, intent on going to bed early so that I wouldn't mind getting up the next morning.

"Jen?" Beth asked as she got into her own bed.

"Hmm?" I asked.

"You know Hale Jacobs?"

Hale Jacobs was a Gryffindor in our year, and he was a Prefect with me. "Yeah, of course I do. Why?"

"Just wondering."

I sat up. "I know there's more to that."

She smiled and continued to French braid her hair. "It's just…do you fancy him?"

I raised an eyebrow. "However did you get that idea?"

"It's not that," she said and finished off the braid. "It's just that while you were up there singing, I noticed that he was looking at you."

I laughed. "A lot of people were looking at me, Beth. I had the solo part."

She shook her head and smiled at me as if I were naïve. "It wasn't like that."

"Than how was it like?" I asked her.

"He fancies you," Kendra said from her bed. "It's obvious. I suspected it last year, but it's pretty evident this year."

Emma nodded. "He didn't want to make a move last year because you were sort of dating Ernie."

I shuddered. "Which was a mistake, by the way."

Cassie giggled. "We warned you."

I rolled my eyes. "Hale Jacobs does not fancy me."

They all looked at each other.

"She's too stubborn," Emma finally said.

Kendra nodded. "She'll just have to figure it out for herself."

"Won't take long," Cassie put in.

"And we better be cordially invited to say 'I told you so'," Beth added as she rolled over and reached to turn off her light.

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously, guys?"

"Night!"

I sighed but smiled as I burrowed under the covers and the lights went out. I pictured Hale's face – high cheekbones, bright blue eyes – and his strong arms and decided that if he did fancy me, he was definitely worth a chance.

Then, I pulled the blankets up higher and fell right to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

~Jen's POV~

I was up before the other girls the next morning, as it had always been since I'd first come to Hogwarts. I don't know why, but I could never sleep late. So, I grabbed my uniform and pulled it on before using magic to straighten my hair. Then, I applied just a little bit of makeup (blush, eyeshadow, and mascara) and pinned my Prefect's badge to my chest before I walked over to Beth's bed and gently shook her. "Beth."

She moaned and rolled over. I shook her again. "Beth."

Slower than I would have thought possible, she sat up in the bed and blinked rapidly at me, her brown eyes still a little glazed over with sleep. "It can't be time to get up already."

I smiled at her. "It is. Will you wake the other girls? I want to get down to breakfast and get my schedule."

She let out a breath and nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"Thanks." I smiled and then headed for the door. "See you down there."

I went down the stairs and into the common room, passing through at a fast walk. I was rather excited to get my schedule; sixth year was going to be amazing.

"Jennifer?"

I stopped and turned slightly until Hale Jacobs came into my view. He wore his uniform and badge, too, and his pale blond hair was messy in all the right places. I almost lost my breath a little bit. "Hey, Hale."

He smiled at me and stepped closer. "Heading to breakfast?"

_No,_ I thought sarcastically, _I'm on my way to hunt dragons. Can't you tell?_ I tuned my sarcastic inner voice out. "Yeah, I am."

"Mind if I walk with you?" he asked. "I'm headed there as well."

I shrugged and smiled at him. "Sure."

We had only made it three steps away from the portrait hole when he said, "I have to admit, I was surprised when I heard that your brother was the new Head Boy."

"Not as surprised as I was," I said. I hadn't even believed him until he'd shown me the letter and the badge (and even then I thought he was pulling a prank). Mum had been so proud, though; she'd made a huge dinner and we'd had a cake to celebrate. Dad had been just as shocked as I was and we had discussed the possibility of Dumbledore being under an Imperius Curse until Mum had shushed us.

He laughed. "I'll bet. I mean, he's a great wizard and everything, he's just…"

"Troublesome?"

"Exactly," he smiled. "I didn't want to say it, him being your brother and all."

I shrugged. "I can admit what he is."

"How did you do on your O.W.L.s?" he asked. "I mean, you're best in the year, so obviously you did great."

I blushed a little bit and hoped that he didn't notice. "All Os except for Astronomy. I got an E."

"I hated Astronomy," he said. "I'm so glad that I get to drop it this year."

"What else did you drop?" I asked.

"Arithmancy and Ancient Runes," he said. "I kind of wish I'd taken Care of Magical Creatures instead."

"I like Arithmancy and Ancient Runes," I defended, a little hurt.

He laughed. "Sorry. I'm also dropping History of Magic as well. I'm not sure who's keeping that class up, anyways."

"Most of the Ravenclaws, I expect."

"Probably," he nodded. "What are you dropping?"

"Nothing," I admitted. "I'm going to have a pretty busy schedule."

His mouth dropped open. "How are you going to keep all of that up?"

I just shrugged. "Lots of study time."

"Apparently. All that and Quidditch and choir… How do you do it?"

I laughed. "It's not really all that hard. It's just about managing time."

He nodded slowly. "Maybe you could draw me up a schedule."

I laughed again. "Maybe."

"Professor Bauer seemed pretty cool."

I shrugged. "I think I'll reserve judgment until after the first class, which I hope will be soon." Defense had always been my favorite subject at Hogwarts.

"I agree," he said. "I thought about dropping it, actually…but I'm glad I didn't."

"Why would you drop it?" I asked.

"I want to be a Healer, not an Auror," he said. "I wasn't sure that Defense would do me any good. But with all of the stuff going on out there…"

I nodded, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Voldemort – or You-Know-Who – was gaining a lot of followers, the Death Eaters. And they were quite a bit of trouble. They used Dark Magic to torture families and they even went so far as to kill Muggles, too. That, I didn't understand. It made me sick to think about. What kind of people would kill defenseless Muggles? Cowards. Lowlifes. Scum. They needed to be brought down.

"Probably smart," I told him.

He gave a small smile. "My mum is the one that talked me into it. She didn't want me unprepared in case something happened…"

I nodded. "Mums are like that."

"Yeah," he laughed. "They are."

We walked into the Great Hall and almost ran right into Professor McGonagall. I jumped back, eyes wide. "I'm so sorry, Professor!"

She smiled at me. "Quite all right, Potter." Even though she had to get onto my brother constantly, she seemed to adore me. "Would you like your schedule?"

"Yes, please," I said eagerly.

"You as well, Jacobs?" she asked.

He nodded. "If you please."

She made our schedules quickly and then leaned in to whisper to me. "I must say, Potter, I was rather pleased by your scores. You beat all of the Ravenclaws! Professor Flitwick was speechless!"

I laughed and she stepped away. "Have a nice day, Potter."

"You too, Professor," I said and then looked down at my schedule. "Yes!"

"I see it," Hale laughed. "Defense Against the Dark Arts first thing today. Looks like you got your wish."

My excitement faded as I scanned the parchment. I groaned.

"What?" he asked, leaning over to look. And then, he exhaled a half laugh. "Wow, you really do have a busy schedule."

"Tell me about it."

~James' POV~

"What do you think they're talking about?" I asked, looking at my sister and Hale Jacobs. He was looking at her schedule, their shoulders touching, and they were both smiling as they talked to each other.

"Chill, mate," Sirius replied as he bit off a sausage. "I'm sure it's nothing."

"It's not nothing," I insisted. "Look at him."

Sirius glanced up and then dropped his sausage onto his plate, his eyes wide. "Oh, Merlin," he said. "You're right. They totally shagged last night."

"WHAT?"

Everyone in the hall looked at me and Sirius began to laugh rather loudly. "I can't believe you fell for that one, mate. We were right behind her getting into the common room; you saw her go straight up to the dorm with her roommates."

I took a breath. "Don't do that."

He laughed again and Remus rolled his eyes. "Hale Jacobs is a nice kid. He's a prefect."

"I don't care if he's a bloody prefect," I said through gritted teeth as I reached for the pumpkin juice. "He doesn't need to be talking to my sister."

Two seconds later, Jen plopped onto the bench beside me. "What was that yell about?"

Sirius smirked and I kicked him under the table. "Nothing; Sirius was being stupid."

She looked at him expectantly.

He smiled. "Nothing. We were just messing around."

She looked towards Remus. "Remus?"

"Not getting into it," he said, turning the page in his book.

She sighed. "Peter?"

Peter blushed slightly and looked down at his plate. "Ummm…."

"Quit interrogating my friends," I said, putting an arm around Peter. "Let me see your schedule." And then I snatched it out of her hands.

"Such manners," she rolled her eyes. "Remus, will you please hand me a piece of toast?"

"Defense first thing," I noted. "Good; you'll have to tell me what the new professor is like."

Sirius nodded. "We need to know how much we can get away with in his class."

"We don't have it until Wednesday," I put in. "So you'll have time to think about your character analysis."

She rolled her eyes and spread butter on her toast. "What's your first class?"

"A break, actually," I beamed.

"It's so that we can get our homework done that we'll neglect during the weekend," Sirius said.

"I have Ancient Runes," Remus said and put his book down.

"I'm looking forward to that class this year," Jen said. "Did you like it last year?"

As Remus filled her in on what to expect, I spotted Lily taking a seat a few feet away. I smiled at her. "Good morning, Sunshine."

She glared at me. "I have a name, Potter, and it isn't Sunshine." Then, she went back to talking with her friends.

"Not your best line," Sirius noted.

I glared at him. "Shut up."

Jen laughed. "Well, it isn't."

"I don't need it from you, too."

She laughed again. "Instead of making up your own nicknames for her, why don't you just talk to her? You know, as a _person_? Ask her about her summer, her classes, what she thinks about a book."

I smiled and put an arm around her shoulders to pull her close to me. "That's why I keep you around; for girl advice."

She ducked out from under my arm and picked up her toast, which now sported grape jelly. "No, there are other reasons."

"Right," I said. "You also write pretty good Transfiguration essays."

She punched my arm. "Watch it, bro."


	5. Chapter 5

~James' POV~

"What do you think?" I asked Sirius.

No response.

"Oi!" I said as I reached over and punched his arm to wake him up.

"Wh-what?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep. "Is it time to go to Potions already?"

"No," I responded. "I wanted your opinion."

"On what?"

"On my sister and Hale!"

He rolled his eyes and pulled the pillow closer to him as he sank back down on the couch and closed his eyes. "I'm going back to bed."

"You don't understand!" I said and then I sighed and softly said, "You just don't get it."

He sighed and sat up, his dark hair sticking up in a couple of places. "Okay, so explain it to me."

I took a breath. "You have Regulus, but you never really had a brother-type relationship with him."

"You can say that again," he muttered.

"Jen is my sister; I've never really known a life without her. And I hate that I didn't notice guys watching her until recently; I should have been paying more attention. It's just that guys like to take advantage of girls to boost their ego – no offense, mate."

He raised his hands. "None taken."

"I just want to protect her, you know? It's my job as her older brother."

Sirius leaned in slightly towards me. "She's a big girl, James."

"I know that." And I did. I knew that Jen was mature beyond her years. "But it's still my job. I still have to protect her."

He leaned back against the couch. "It's very noble of you, James. And you're a good big brother and everything, but you can't be overprotective. If you are, she'll grow to resent that."

"I know," I sighed. "I should just back off."

Sirius shook his head, his eyes widening as if I had just said the stupidest thing he'd ever heard. "No, you shouldn't! You should just do it more sneakily."

~Jen's POV~

I have to admit, I was a little nervous for Defense. Sure, it was my favorite subject, but it was a new professor and I had no idea what he would be like. Beth was equally nervous, I could tell. She walked silently beside me, fiddling with her scrunched hair.

"It'll be okay," I said. I've always been the one to put my own emotions aside to help other people. "I'm sure he'll be just fine. Dumbledore wouldn't have hired him if he was a bullying toerag."

She gave me a small smile. "Yeah; you're right."

Professor Bauer was standing right outside the classroom wearing robes of the blackest black, his red hair messy, yet neatly trimmed. He looked at us with eyes brighter than any I'd ever seen (including Lily Evans') and smiled. "Ladies. I'm Professor Bauer."

I could almost feel Beth trembling. "I'm Jennifer Potter, sir; and this is Beth Sanders."

He nodded. "Take any seat you want, ladies. We'll begin shortly."

We walked into the classroom and I whispered, "He seems nice."

She nodded and took a seat in the middle row. "He actually did. Maybe this won't be so bad after all." It had taken her almost the full year to get used to our last professor.

On the other side of the room, Slytherins were talking amongst themselves, occasionally sending sneers across the room towards the Gryffindors. "They'll be sorry later," I said. "We're going to destroy them in Quidditch."

"When are tryouts?" she asked as she took out her textbook. "I want to come watch; they're always good for a laugh."

I smiled. "I dunno. As worried as my brother was about it this summer, I figured he would have already had something worked out."

"Maybe he's too scared to try?"

I laughed. "Nah. He's a little worried about it, but scared is the wrong word. We'll be fine; we'll just have to work pretty hard."

"Regulus Black," she said.

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

She nodded her head towards the other side of the room. "Regulus Black. He's on the Slytherin team, right?"

I looked to where she had nodded and saw that, sure enough, Regulus was sitting there, spinning his wand on the desktop as Dolohov and McNabb talked. "Seeker," I answered her. "Yeah." I clenched my hands, a little bit angry. "He beat me to the Snitch last year."

"But it didn't matter," she reminded me. "You guys were already so far ahead."

I looked to the front. "We had three good Chasers last year. This year, only two are left."

"Just get a Keeper that won't get himself knocked out. Or maybe Madame Hooch should just tell Black to play by the rules."

"Nothing he did was illegal," I said. I didn't like Black (or any Slytherin) but it was true. "He just flew interference, hoping that he could scare Harris into falling off his broom."

"And it worked," she said.

I nodded. "He fell right into the goal post."

Professor Bauer shut the door and walked to the front of the room. Everyone stopped talking and gave him their full attention, not sure what he was like.

He gave a small smile to everyone and said, "Hello. For those of you that weren't paying attention during the headmaster's speech last night, I am Professor Bauer. Today, I think, we will begin focusing on nonverbal spells."

There was a collective moan from the class and his smile grew a little. "Yes, yes, I know. But it is a necessary evil. Now, who can tell me the advantages of using a nonverbal spell?"

Automatically, I raised my hand. My brother and I were opposites that way. He rarely participated in class and I always did.

"Miss Potter?"

"Your opponent won't know what spell is coming at him," I answered. "The element of surprise."

He nodded. "Ten points to Gryffindor. Now, I want you to partner up and begin working with nonverbal spells."

Beth grabbed my arm and I gave her a nod.

"Spread out," he said. "And begin. One partner will shoot a low grade spell and the other partner will attempt to deflect it. No words, ladies and gentlemen, that is the meaning of nonverbal. No muttering, no whispers, no sounds. Just spells. Got it?"

Beth and I separated about ten feet away and faced each other. "You shoot a spell first," I told her.

She nodded. "Okay."

"Begin," Professor Bauer said.

She pointed her wand at me, but nothing happened. I waited. And waited. And waited. And grew a little bit bored, to be honest. Beth wasn't the best at Defense, by far, but she was probably the most honest student in Hogwarts, so I knew that she wasn't going to mutter under her breath. She was going to do it the honest way.

Professor Bauer came up behind her. "Which spell are you attempting?"

She jumped; she'd been concentrating so hard that she hadn't heard him approach her. She blushed. "Jelly legs."

He nodded. "Okay, here's what you need to do. Instead of just screaming the words as loud as you can in your head, picture the effect. Picture what will happen to Miss Potter when the jinx hits her, alright?"

I took that information and stored it away in my own head. So, when her jinx would come flying at me, I would just picture my shield charm deflecting it and scream the spell in my head.

She nodded and looked at me again, concentrating. And then, a jet of light came out of her wand. My heart began to pound. _Protego!_ I thought as I pictured the charm bouncing off of my shield.

And it did.

I smiled.

Beth's face fell. "How did you do that?"

Professor Bauer nodded at me. "Very good, Miss Potter. Very good, indeed."

I smiled. "Thank you, sir."

He moved on and Beth stepped closer to me and repeated, "How did you do that?"

I shrugged. "I took the advice that he gave you and applied it myself."

"Clever," she said. "Shall we go again?"

I deflected every single spell that she sent at me and then, when I sent spells at her, she did an alright job of stopping them, though most of them seemed to get through.

"Take your seats!" Professor Bauer called towards the end of class.

We all moved to do what he said and when everyone was sitting down, he sat on the edge of his desk, one foot touching the floor and the other dangling off the side. "Nonverbal spells can be challenging and very frustrating," he said. "But please don't give up; they can be very useful to you. Now, I really like what I saw in here; there was some real talent." Here, Beth nudged my arm and I rolled my eyes. "For homework, instead of making you write an essay that I don't really want to have to read, all I ask is that you practice using nonverbal spells. It can be simple stuff, but I just want you to be able to use them, okay?"

Everyone nodded and he gestured for the doors. "Class dismissed."

We gathered our things to go and Beth said, "I definitely need to practice."

"You were doing good."

"Not even _half_ as good as you," she replied. "Care to tutor me?"

"I wasn't doing as well as you think. It took nearly all of my concentration."

As we reached the door, Regulus Black reached it at the same time. We almost collided, but we both stopped. Beth, who had made it through, turned back to look.

Regulus stepped back and made an _after you_ gesture.

"Thank you," I muttered as I passed him and caught up with Beth.

"That was awkward," Beth whispered.

"Tell me about it," I replied. "Come on, we better hurry for Charms. You know how Flitwick gets when people are late."


	6. Chapter 6

~James' POV~

I grew increasingly nervous with every single step I took. My broom was slung over one shoulder and I wore simple jeans and a T-shirt. Quidditch tryouts would take place in less than ten minutes and I was _terrified_ that I wouldn't be able to find anyone better than William Harris for Keeper. The Chaser position was important, too, but I wasn't as worried about it as I was the Keeper. Diego and I could keep up the Chaser end of the game.

"Relax, mate," Sirius said, clapping me on the shoulder. He and Remus and Peter had offered to come along for moral support, which I would be needing. I hoped that I would be pleasantly surprised, though.

"Hey, James!" Diego Sanchez smiled and raised a hand in greeting.

I managed a smile back at him. "Diego. Good summer?"

"Very good," he replied. "Ready for this?"

"No," I admitted.

Sirius touched my arm. "We're gonna go sit up in the stands."

I nodded. "Thanks for coming."

He nodded and headed off. Peter smiled as he passed by. "Good luck."

"Thanks, Wormtail."

Remus walked by and shot me a quick smile before following our friends towards the stands.

"Well," I sighed. "Is everyone here?"

"Your sister isn't," he answered as he raised his hand and his broom zoomed up to meet it. "But Drake and Kevin are. And William, although I doubt he'll make it through this year."

I smiled. "Let's hope not."

"Oh, there's your sister," he pointed. "I'm going to go and get everyone into groups, if that's okay."

I nodded. "Thanks."

He took off and I turned to see my sister walking with two of her roommates, Beth and Cassie.

"You ladies trying out?" I asked with a grin.

Beth, the more outgoing of the two, nodded. "Yeah; I'm the best Keeper there is."

"Better than William," Jen and I said at the same time.

"We just came for a laugh," Cassie explained. "See you after, Jen!"

My sister waved as they walked away and then looked at the small crowd that was gathered around the goal posts. She let out a low whistle. "Lots of hopefuls."

"Too many," I agreed.

"Glad I'm not captain," she smirked as she pulled her hair up into a high ponytail, her bangs flying in the breeze.

"You will be next year," I reminded her. "How could you not be?"

"The only ones I'll have to replace will be you and Diego," she said. "But they'll be losses."

"I can't be replaced," I insisted, puffing out my chest.

She rolled her eyes and pulled her ponytail tight before picking up her broom and gesturing. "After you, Captain."

We approached the crowd and I whistled, causing everyone to stop talking and look at me. "Thank you for coming to tryouts," I said to begin. "Everyone split into groups by position."

Unsurprisingly, no one stood with Drake and Kevin; everyone knew that they were too good to be beat out of their position.

"Good," I said as my sister moved to take her place with the group of potential Seekers. I smiled slightly when I saw the differences. She was skinny and petite, yes, but she was also the most muscular. And the most confident; others were fidgeting but she was calmly leaning against her broom, appearing almost bored. Calm, cool, and collected were traits that we shared. "Let's start with a couple of laps around the pitch."

Jen finished first, followed extremely closely by Diego and then Drake and Kevin. I eliminated the ones that weren't good flyers and then sent the Chasers with Diego while I kept the Keepers with me.

It was a tedious process. First, I had them try several maneuvers and then I threw the Quaffle and they had to defend against it, not letting the ball through the hoop. William saved two of five and I was almost scared that he was going to be the best one until a third year named Michael Shell saved four of five.

"Where were you last year?" I asked him after I had picked him as the new Keeper.

He blushed slightly. "I wasn't sure that I was good enough last year. But I practiced all summer."

"It shows," I assured him. "And we can use that kind of dedication. Stick around, would you, and block for the Chaser tryouts."

He nodded and got back up into the air.

A hundred million attempted goals later, a fifth year names Neil Gardenhire was our new Chaser.

"Excellent," I said. "Just the Seeker left." A couple of students had stuck around, even though it had to be obvious that Jen was the best. I walked over to the group and held a struggling Snitch in my hand. "First one to catch the Snitch wins."

They mounted their brooms.

Jen and I shot each other a smile.

I let the Snitch go.

Three… Two… One… "Go."

Jen had the Snitch in her hand within twenty seconds. From the stands, Cassie, Beth, Remus, Peter, and Sirius cheered loudly.

I cracked a wide smile. "Congratulations to the members of the team," I said and they all gathered in a small circle around me. "I'll inform you of when practices are to be and you're expected to be at every single one. I'll see you all later."

Everyone dispersed except for my sister, who was examining her nails. "So, we have a good team this year."

I grinned. "Slytherin, here we come."

She laughed. "Definitely."

And then Sirius, who considered her a sister as much as he considered me a brother, swooped her up into a hug. "Atta kid, Jennie!"

She made a face and hit his shoulder repeatedly. "Put me down! And _don't_ call me Jennie!"

He obediently put her down and then Beth and Cassie hugged her, telling her how brilliantly she'd done. Remus hugged her next and then Peter.

"Shall we go to the castle?" I asked.

Jen and I shouldered our brooms and we all walked up together, talking about our chances at the Cup and about strategies we would have to use. When we crossed the threshold to the castle, Jen began to go a separate way. "I'll catch you guys up in the common room. I have to go grab a bottle of water from the kitchen. Beth, can you take my broom for me?"

"Sure," Beth took the broom. "See ya up there."

"See ya."

"Later."

She headed off and when she was out of earshot, Sirius whispered, "I can't wait to see the look on Regulus' face when she beats him to the Snitch. It looks like she's gotten even better. Guess all that summer practicing really did pay off."

I nodded. "It most certainly did."

~Jen's POV~

"Need you anything else?" one of the house elves asked, looking at me with big green eyes as if nothing would make him happier than to get me another bottle of water or something to eat.

I smiled politely at him. "No, thank you. The water is all I need."

"Is Miss sure?" he asked. "A snack for later, maybe?"

My stomach growled and I put a hand over it. "Well, a pastry doesn't sound too terribly bad…"

His eyes lit up. "I can get Miss a pastry!" And then he took off.

It made me sad sometimes, how eager the elves were to serve. They didn't really know what freedom was like. I mean, I appreciated all of the work that they did, but I thought that they should take the days off and the pay that Dumbledore offered to them. James called me silly for thinking that.

The elf came back, carrying at least seven pastries that were stacked neatly on a small plate. "Here you is, Miss!"

I smiled as I took the plate. "Thank you ever so much."

He bowed and then stepped back to allow me to exit the kitchen. As I walked down the corridor, I picked the pastry off of the top and took a bite, immediately immersed in the delicious flavors. House elves sure did know how to make food. The blueberry filling was soft and smooth and the cream cheese frosting that was dribbled on top was to die for. How did they ever get so good at cooking food? Was it like an innate instinct? Were they born knowing how to make delicious pastries and get all of the wrinkles out of clothes?

I finished off the pastry and decided that I would give the rest to my brother and Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Well…except for the strawberry one that I saw towards the bottom. I couldn't resist a strawberry pastry.

I rounded a corner and almost rammed right into someone. I stopped short and said, "So sorry."

"It's fine." The voice was baritone and kind of pleasant. But when I saw who was speaking, I stilled completely.

Regulus Black.

He cocked his head slightly when he saw how I was looking at him. "What?"

I shook my head silently and moved to the side so that he could pass. Never turn your back on an enemy, James liked to say.

Regulus shrugged his shoulders and moved. The way that he walked was so different from his older brother. Sirius kind of sauntered, strutted around like he owned the place. Regulus was quieter in his movements, like a snake. They had the same dark hair, though, even though Regulus' was much shorter, closely cropped. Same gray eyes, too, I had noticed.

As soon as he had rounded the corner, I continued my walk to the common room, where the Marauders gladly accepted my pastries.


	7. Chapter 7

~Jen's POV~

"So sick of school already," Emma groaned as she dragged herself out of the bed. She didn't mean it, she was just really tired.

"Care of Magical Creatures today," Kendra groaned in response as she struggled to French braid her hair. "I hope it won't be too practical of a lesson."

"I'll second that," Cassie agreed.

I finished applying mascara and moved to help Kendra with her hair.

"Thank you," she sighed gratefully as I slapped her hands out of the way and took over.

"I figured you'd be good at this by now," I told her, "as many times as you practice."

"It just never works out for me."

I finished her hair and she thanked me profusely.

"Can you braid mine?" Cassie asked. "I don't feel like messing with it today."

While I braided her hair, the other girls finished getting ready. Finally, we all went down to breakfast together, talking about what our days would be like and making plans for the weekend (Kendra wanted me to teach her how to braid finally).

I sat down by my brother. "Morning."

"Morning," he grumbled.

I smiled. "What's wrong?"

Sirius answered. "Moony made us get up at the crack of dawn."

Remus rolled his eyes as he sprinkled salt over his eggs. "I did no such thing. I just didn't want you to be late for class and we all know how you two get when you haven't eaten."

"Seems to me that Remus is the responsible one. Pass the eggs?"

Peter passed the eggs and Sirius groaned as he poured ketchup onto his meat. "I'd rather sleep late than be responsible."

"Which is why you were never made a prefect." I ladled eggs onto my plate and James handed me the salt and pepper without needing to be asked.

"I would have been a good prefect," he disagreed, waking up in tiny degrees.

Everyone gave him a look.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. But, really, James is Head Boy. It's not _that_ big of a stretch."

"This is true," I agreed.

"Thanks, sis."

"Anytime."

We talked about the weather for a few minutes and then Remus read us an interesting article about werewolves. As he finished, I stood up and shouldered my bag. "I should get going to Ancient Runes. I have a couple of questions before class starts, so-"

"I'll walk with you."

I looked over to see Hale Jacobs smiling at me, his hair as messy as ever. "I'm headed there, too," he said. "It's no trouble."

I could feel James' mouth open, so I pinched his arm. "Yeah, sure, Hale," I said. "Come on."

I told the Marauders good-bye, but James wasn't paying me a bit of attention; he was too busy glaring at Hale. I rolled my eyes and then Hale and I took off.

"Your brother doesn't like me."

I rolled my eyes. "My brother doesn't like any guy that talks to me."

He laughed. "I can see that."

We rounded a corner and moved out of the way for some passing first years babbling about their excitement for flying lessons.

"Flying lessons," he said. "That reminds me, how were tryouts? I haven't heard much."

"Michael Shell is the new Keeper," I said.

"Michael Shell?"

"He's a third year," I answered. "Good, too. Or, at least, better than William. And the new Chaser is Neil Gardenhire."

"He's a prefect, right?"

I nodded.

"So, it's gonna be a good year?"

"That all depends," I shrugged, thinking about last year. We had barely won the cup. Slytherin had played to their advantage with cunning tactics to attempt to knock us off of our brooms. And it had finally worked when Regulus had flown around William and knocked him off, causing him to hit a goal post. He'd been out for a week. And then, Regulus had beaten me to the Snitch, but we were way ahead in points, so we still won by ten.

But Regulus wouldn't beat me to the Snitch this year. I'd been practicing all summer, flying in the woods where maneuvering was difficult, practicing my dives, chasing the Snitch for hours, anything that I thought would improve my game.

"Who's the first match?"

"Hufflepuff and Slytherin," I replied.

"Are you going?"

I shook my head and made a face. "I see no point in going; Slytherin will slaughter them."

Hufflepuff's Seeker – Hannah Ruth – was a shy little girl that Regulus would flatten. He would catch the Snitch within seconds, I knew it. Waste of walking, in my opinion.

We reached the classroom and I moved to ask the professor my question. "Thanks for walking with me, Hale."

He smiled at me. "Anytime," he promised, and I knew that he would keep his word.

~James' POV~

"This blows."

"I know," I agreed. "Jen said that he didn't assign their class an essay."

"Essays aren't bad," Remus said. "He's assigning us an essay because there will be essay questions on the N.E.W.T.s."

"Still," Sirius grumbled.

We ate a quick lunch and then I decided that I wanted to do my research outside since it was such a nice day. They agreed and we walked out into the fresh autumn air. I inhaled deeply. "Perfect."

"Full moon coming up," Sirius said, his eyes lighting with excitement while Remus turned pale. "I can't wait."

"I can." Remus plopped down and leaned against the tree. He _had_ been looking a little weak, of late, probably because the full moon was approaching.

"We've been doing so well, though," I said.

"I just wish you guys wouldn't risk your lives for me."

Originally, I thought that it was a stupid concern. We were his friends, after all; we _wanted_ to help him. But then, Jen had gotten involved. I should have known that she would get suspicious eventually. We did a poor job hiding our books and our notes and she read them. She kept asking what we were up to, but we wouldn't tell her.

And then, one day, a silver wolf came loping up to us when we were out by the Black Lake one night, planning our next prank. Sirius had commented that he'd never seen a wolf so close to Hogwarts and Remus said that was because the barriers should have prevented it from getting in.

And then, lo and behold, my sister had appeared before us, smiling, her hands on her hips. _"It's not as hard as they make it out to be,"_ she had said. _"I can't believe you guys haven't figured it out already."_ And then, she'd had to help us figure it out.

I hadn't wanted her to participate, but she had been adamant about it and I couldn't change her mind. And now, she was just as much a part of it as we were.

"We're your friends," Peter said simply. "We don't mind."

He sighed and opened his book.

I opened mine as well and began to read. "How does he expect us to come up with a thousand words about this?"

"I've come up with at least five hundred already."

"Of course you have, Moony," Sirius said. "James?"

"Nada."

"Same here."

"I'm glad I don't have to do that," Peter said as he laid back to relax.

We all shot glares at him.

"What?" he asked innocently. "I felt like bragging about my luck."

"Go to hell," Sirius muttered.

Remus and I laughed and Peter stuck his tongue out much like a five-year-old.

And then I heard it. "Snivellus! Snivellus!"

"Someone's torturing Snivellus," Sirius noted as he looked around trying to find the source.

I felt a pulling in my gut, but not the usual kind. And then I saw the small crowd gathered and a Ravenclaw that had his wand pointed at Severus Snape.

I sighed and pulled myself to my feet.

"James," Remus warned.

"Prongs, wait up!" Sirius called.

I kept walking.

When I reached the crowd, I saw that the Ravenclaw was voting on which spell he should use next. Bat-Bogey seemed like the most popular, so he faced Snape to cast the spell. I took a breath and stepped between them. "Enough."

The Ravenclaw raised his eyebrows. "Potter?"

_You're Head Boy_, I told myself. _You need to be responsible. _"Leave him alone," I said, remembering when I had been on the other end, torturing Snape along with Sirius. "Or I'll have to give you detention."

The Ravenclaw seemed shocked. "But… I…"

"Go," I said sharply.

The crowd began to disperse and Snape looked at me with loathing. "I don't need your help, Potter."

"Didn't seem that way to me."

Sirius stepped up. "Prongs, have you gone mental?"

And then Lily Evans appeared as if from nowhere, looking more gorgeous than ever. She looked at Snape and then at me. "Did you… Did you just help him?"

"I didn't need it," Snape spat as he pulled himself to his feet, his greasy hair flying around his face.

I ignored him and nodded. "Yeah, I did. I figured it was time to move on from childish rivalries and live up to the responsibility that Dumbledore gave me."

She seemed surprised.

I was, too. _Where the hell did that come from?_

"Well," she said slowly. "That was very… noble of you."

I nodded my head. "Have a nice day, Evans." It was so hard to not ask her out, but I didn't want to ruin the moment. "You too, Severus."

And then, I walked away, Sirius following me as he muttered, "Bloody _mental_."


	8. Chapter 8

~James' POV~

"James, looking at the clock every minute doesn't make time go any faster," Remus reprimanded. "You're supposed to be working on your essay for McGonagall."

I looked back down at my nearly barren piece of parchment. "I am. I just…. I don't want to be late. I am the captain, after all."

Remus just rolled his eyes. "This essay is due tomorrow, James. You said you were going to do it yesterday."

"He said that the day before, too," Peter whispered, thinking that I wasn't listening.

"Peter," I said, feigning hurt. "After all I've done for you, you rat me out to Remus?"

Sirius laughed. "Rat!" he said. "Good one, James."

Peter stuck his tongue out at me and Remus sighed. "Essay. Due. _Tomorrow._"

I sighed. "Alright, alright. I know. Hey, Moony, you don't suppose…"

"No," he replied. "I will not write it for you. You're Head Boy now, James; I would think that would make you more responsible."

"I stopped people from bullying Snivellus," I defended myself. "I'd like to think that is considered pretty bloody responsible, considering how much I hate him."

Remus looked at me and tilted his head, as if he were contemplating something. Then, he nodded slowly. "Okay, I'll give you that one. But you still need to work on your essay."

Triumphant, I got to work. But, after nearly half an hour of work, I only had one paragraph. I sighed and set down my quill before taking off my glasses to rub my eyes. "Moony, I only have one paragraph."

"Good," he said, not looking up from the scrolls he had to read for Ancient Runes. "You need at least six more. And a conclusion."

"Can't you just-"

"No."

"But-"

"James."

I sighed. "Fine. I'll do it myself. And it'll be the best essay in the class."

"Of course it will."

"Evans will be shocked," I continued with my fantasy as if he hadn't spoken. "And then she'll ask me to tutor her. And then she'll fall in love with me and we'll get married and have kids and live happily ever after."

Sirius laughed. "Good luck with that one, mate."

"Luck has nothing to do with it," I informed him. "She won't be able to resist me."

"Okay," Peter said. "Remus, what's another word for 'bad'? I've used bad almost seven times."

"Atrocious," Remus supplied. "Horrible, terrible, horrendous…"

"Thanks," he said. And then, two seconds later, "Umm…how do you spell atrocious?"

While Remus began his spelling lesson, I looked at the clock and jumped up in delight. "Later, mates. I've gotta get going for Quidditch."

Sirius stood up. "I'll come with you."

Remus looked at him. "No, you won't. You still have two more essays to write."

"I'll get them done later, Mum; I promise."

I snickered but Remus just rolled his eyes and continued to help Peter. Sirius and I made our way up the stairs and began to change clothes. "Moony should be a teacher," he said.

I pulled a shirt on and reached for my broom, which always remained propped up against the wall right beside my bed. "He should," I agreed. "He'd be perfect for the job. But what class?"

"Doesn't matter," Sirius replied. "He's good at everything. Shall we go, then?"

I nodded and we left our dorm. In the common room, Remus was still helping a struggling Peter with his essay. After we were out of earshot, Sirius whispered, "Poor bloke. Having trouble with the easiest class."

"Peter's never been the brightest," I reminded him. "But, he's still our friend."

"I know."

We passed a group of girls that swooned when they caught sight of Sirius, but he didn't even spare them a second glance. "When are you going to try to find yourself a girl?"

"When centaurs fly," he rolled his eyes. "Or when you and Evans start dating. Neither are going to come anytime soon."

"Thanks for the confidence."

"Anytime," he smiled and then pointed up ahead. "Hey, there's your sister."

Sure enough, Jen was several feet in front of us, broom on her shoulder and ponytail of jet black hair waving behind her like a banner. "Jen!" I called.

She turned and smiled when she saw me and Sirius approaching her. When we reached her, she fell into step with us, right in the middle. "I heard about Snape," she said immediately. "I'm surprised."

"That makes a thousand of us," Sirius said.

"I'm Head Boy," I defended. "I have to do stuff like that."

"I think he did it to impress Evans," Sirius said.

Before I could interrupt, Jen asked, "Lily was there?"

"Sure was," Sirius confirmed. "She was just as shocked as you and me."

"I'll bet. Did he try asking her out?"

"Not this time," he replied. "Which only works to reinforce my opinion that he's lost his marbles."

"Definitely," Jen replied.

"I'm right here," I reminded them.

"We know," they said at the same time.

I rolled my eyes. "So, I think I finally came up with a good game plan."

"Which is?" Jen asked.

Sirius stage whispered, "Pretend to be amazed, because he was working on this for _hours_."

Jen giggled and I ignored it. "Anyways, it heavily involves you."

"I like it already," she said.

I began to explain the plan and she listened quietly. By the time that I finished, we were already almost to the pitch, and I saw that the rest of the team was already gathered there, stretching or warming up their flying.

"It's good," she said. "I'm not sure you should feature me so heavily, though."

"I'm headed for the stands," Sirius said as he separated from us.

"Why not?" I asked her.

She set her broom down and sat down to stretch herself out. "Well, if I'm so distracted working on this plan, how am I supposed to watch for the Snitch, especially against a Seeker like Regulus?"

She had a fair point. "I have no idea."

She smiled and leaned forward to grab the arch of her foot. "It's a good plan and I'll try to follow it as much as I can, but I need to be looking for the Snitch, too."

I nodded. "I understand. I'll give you a few minutes to stretch while I explain the new plan to everyone else."

She nodded and I walked away, calling for everyone minus Jen to huddle. I explained the plan, answered questions, and then commanded everyone to get up in the air so that we could practice. As I ascended (Quaffle in hand) I prayed to Merlin that it was going to work out and not be atrocious (to steal Remus' word).

"Here we go," I said as loud as I could. "Diego!" I passed the Quaffle to Diego and then we all took off flying as fast as we could down the field. Jen did what she was supposed to do and flew interference against the opposing team (if they had really been there), but she also spent time searching for an imaginary Snitch, just as she would in a real match (except there would be a _real_ Snitch in a real match).

"Jen!" I called.

She wheeled around on her broom. "What?"

"Want to let the Snitch go?"

I saw her grin widely. All summer, I had looked out my window to see her practicing, chasing the Snitch as if it were the one thing that she wanted most in the world. She had practiced diving for it, dodging Bludgers for it, and taking risks to catch it. She was ready. "Yeah! Let it go!"

I nodded and called out to Drake and Kevin. "You guys ready for some actual Bludgers?"

They lifted their bats into the air. "Yeah!"

"Bring it on!"

I let the remaining balls out of the chest and then we were off, in a practice so intense that after a while, I had to call it off just to catch my breath. As we all landed on the ground, I clapped. "That was so much better than I expected it to be!" I exclaimed. "Awesome job, everyone!"

They all clapped and then helped to put the balls back into their rightful place. After the chest was put up and everyone had headed back to the castle, Sirius came up to Jen and I, smiling. "Well, quite a bit better than last year's bunch."

"I agree," Jen and I said in unison. We all began the trek back to the castle as the sun sank lower and lower in the sky.

"Your Keeper looks especially strong."

"I talked to him a little bit," Jen said. "He said that he spent all summer practicing, just like I did."

"I guess summer practice really pays off."

"So how are you and Hale?" I asked.

Sirius rolled his eyes and took two large steps so that he was a little bit ahead of us. I guess he wanted a clear getaway if things went south. Fine; I'd handle it myself.

Jen didn't seem affected. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, how are you guys?" I asked. "Dating?"

She shook her head. "No. What gave you that idea?"

"He's been walking you to class…"

"You and Sirius walk to every class together," she retorted. "Are you two dating?"

"That's totally different!" I protested.

She rolled her eyes and reached out to ruffle my hair. "Of course it is, James. Of course. I'll see you two tomorrow at breakfast." She stepped ahead of me with long strides and punched Sirius in the arm as she passed. "Later, Padfoot."

He punched her back. "Later."

I sighed and grumbled, "Piece of work."

"Just like her older brother," Sirius grinned.


	9. Chapter 9

~Jen's POV~

"Set me free, why don't ya baby? Get outta my life, why don't ya baby? Cause you don't really love me, you just keep me hangin' on."

We held out the last note and then Professor Flitwick clapped. "Wonderful; just wonderful."

No, it really wasn't. That was the fifth Muggle song that we'd had to learn, and I was getting truly sick of it. Okay, Muggle songs were alright. But we lived in the wizarding world – we should be singing wizarding music, not Muggle music. Professor Flitwick was taking this "merging cultures" thing way too seriously. It needed to stop. Why all of the Muggle music all of a sudden? It was like an overdose.

"Okay, now," he said. "Everybody go get a drink of water and then come and sit down; I have some news for all of you."

_What now_? I wondered. _Yet another Muggle song that he wants us to learn?_ We'd already learned _Rockin' Robin, ABC, Let's Get It On, Don't Be Cruel, _and now _You Keep Me Hanging On_. If he gave us another Muggle song, I thought that I was going to collapse from Muggle overload. I mean, I respected Muggles, but I wasn't one. And there was a reason for that.

"I like that song," Tabitha Long told me as we both headed towards the cubbies that held our bottles of water and sheet music that we brought with us.

"Oh," I said, because I didn't like it and I wasn't sure that I wanted to admit that. Tabitha was a Muggle-born witch.

"If you need help with it," she said, "I can help."

"No, thank you," I told her as I unscrewed the cap of my water. "I'm good."

"I wonder what song we'll get next," she pondered.

_Shoot a Killing Curse at me_, I pleaded with my mind. _Anyone_. Tabitha continued to chatter about Elvis Presley and Jackson5 and I wanted to bang my head against the wall repeatedly. Did she not get that I wasn't interested?

"Gather around!" Professor Flitwick finally called. "Gather, children!"

Children. Really?

When all of us were sitting down, he began to hand out sheet music to everyone. "The headmaster has asked us to perform at the Halloween feast."

Several cheers went up and even I smiled. I loved to perform; on the Quidditch pitch, on a stage, wherever.

"The song is a Muggle song," he said, "but a wizard actually helped to compose it. It shouldn't be too horrible. And I have some wonderful ideas for special effects. Spells that I can cast to make the performance more gripping."

_This is Halloween_, I read when I received my music. A lot of my paper was outlined in pink and green. Only little bitty sections here and there were still white.

"The stuff that is outlined is what you will be singing," he said. "Pink is a solo and green is everyone. Is that clear?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good," he said. "Read over your music, we'll go over the first couple of verses, and then I'll give you some more news."

I began to read over the music, trying to ignore Tabitha humming it next to me. It was an okay song, I had to admit, and I thought that the students would really enjoy the performance. I began to read over my solos, trying to decide how I would have to sing them to make them sound good.

"On the solos," he interrupted my train of thought. "I would like each of you to come up with a different voice. A low growl, perhaps, or the voice of a hag."

"Something scary," a second year put in.

"Exactly," he smiled at her. "Is everyone ready to try a little bit of it?"

We all nodded and he waved his want to begin the music.

"Ah, ah, ah, ahhhh, ah, ah, ahhhh, ah, ah, ahhhh, ahhh, ah," we all sang together. And then, "Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange? Come with us and you will see: this, our town of Halloween. This is Halloween; this is Halloween."

I took my first solo. "Pumpkins scream in the dead of night."

"This is Halloween, Ahhhhhh…."

"Trick or treat, till the neighbors gonna die of fright," a guy sang.

I sang again. "It's our town, everybody scream!"

"In this town of Halloween…"

I did the next in a really creepy voice. "I am the one hiding under your bed. Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red."

Professor Flitwick cut us off and beamed at me. "Did everyone hear what Jennifer did?" Of course they did; everyone always listened when I sang. "That's exactly what I want!" he said. "Okay, now, you can all put your music down. There's something else I want to talk to you about."

Some people set their music on the floor, but I held onto mine, waiting patiently. Professor Flitwick settled onto his stool and beamed at all of us. "Beauxbatons claims that they can beat us this year."

Everyone laughed. We had murdered them in the choir competition the year before.

He held up a hand. "Don't laugh yet. They've issued a challenge."

More laughter. But I was wary. Beauxbatons hadn't seemed stupid. They wouldn't issue a challenge like that to a team that had already beaten them unless they thought that they had a ninety-nine percent chance of winning. So, I leaned forward and waited for more.

"There's more," Professor Flitwick said. "They don't want the challenge to be a competition between the whole choir."

"What?"

"What does that mean?"

"Huh?"

He silenced everyone again and answered. "They want it to be a duet competition."

"So, who's going to sing with Jen?" a fifth year Ravenclaw girl asked.

Everyone looked at me and I looked at Professor Flitwick, who sighed. "I'm not sure yet. We've never really worked duets before. I'll have to think about it. So, you want to accept the challenge?"'

"Hell yeah!"

"Definitely!"

"Bring it on!"

I remained silent. A duet competition? I'd never sang a duet with anyone ever in my life. I mean, I obviously sang along with the radio sometimes, but that didn't exactly count. How was I supposed to do this? Who would be picked? A couple of the guys had good voices, but it would take more than that. Our voices would have to melt together perfectly to create one sound. Duets were so much harder than a group song, and that's why Beauxbatons had issued that particular challenge. They'd probably already been working on a duet.

"We know the song," he offered, holding a piece of music out to me. "If you want to go ahead and start working on it, Jennifer. And guys, I'll hold tryouts for the person that will accompany her, so come see me if you're interested."

_Alone_.

A Muggle song, of course. There weren't many good wizarding music duets.

_I hear the ticking of the clock; I'm lying here, the room's pitch dark…_

Really?

"Everyone is dismissed," Flitwick said. "I'll see you all at the next practice."

I stood up, a little numb, still staring at the music. It wasn't a particularly difficult song, but I was still worried about who would sing with me. I was scared that I was going to have to pull most of the weight, because I would probably be the one that would have to meld my voice. I was terrified that my partner and I would make fools of ourselves and Hogwarts. I was afraid that we would lose.

I walked through the corridors, still staring at the music. The notes in the chorus were kind of high. They didn't look particularly threatening or anything, but I knew that they would be very hard to get down. Duets depended on so much, and this song was going to be a huge challenge. _How am I supposed to do this?_

I gave the Fat Lady the password and then entered into the common room, where the Marauders were gathered close to the fire, talking about something. And then I noticed that Moony was paler than normal and remembered that the full moon was the following day.

Sirius spotted me and grinned. "Hey."

Remus saw me and his eyebrows arched in concern, even though he should have been concerned for himself, not me. "Are you alright?"

I nodded and held up the music. "Beauxbatons issued a challenge."

James and Sirius laughed and James said, "So no problem, right? You guys killed them last year."

I shook my head and sank down onto the ground to join their little group. "This isn't a normal challenge; it's a _duet_ challenge."

"Is that bad?" Peter asked me.

I shrugged. "It's harder. In a group, if someone is a little off key, others can mask it. In a solo, if you're off key, it's still hard to notice. In a duet, everything has to be perfect."

James took the music to read over and Sirius asked, "Who's singing it with you?"

I shrugged. "No idea. Flitwick told all of the guys that they have to try out to get the part."

"Are you worried about it?" Remus asked.

"No sense in that," I replied. "So, tomorrow night?"

He paled a little more and nodded. "You don't have to-"

"Don't be ridiculous," I waved him off. "I'm so in and you know it."

He nodded.

James sighed and handed me back the music. "I don't know music. Is that going to be hard?"

I nodded and then rubbed my eyes. "Let's just not talk about it anymore."

"Uh oh," Sirius muttered.

_Exactly, Sirius. Exactly. _


	10. Chapter 10

~James' POV~

"Nice of you to join us," I said as Jen finally approached our group and stopped.

She tossed her straight, dark hair over one shoulder and stuck her tongue out at me. "For your information, Prongs, I'm still five minutes early."

"Any later, and you'd be of no help to us."

She rolled her eyes. "Just get the cloak over us, James. If we stand here bickering, _none_ of us will be a help to Remus."

I did as she had asked and we began to creep along under the cover of night.

Well…if you could even call it creeping.

"Peter, your rat nails are digging into my shoulder."

"Ouch, James, that was my foot."

"Shh," I told both of them. "We're almost there."

We reached the edges of the Whomping Willow and I whispered, "Peter, now."

Peter clambered off of Sirius' shoulder and as soon as he hit the ground, he took of scurrying. When he reached the tree, he climbed it and pressed the knot. The effect was instant; the Whomping Willow froze completely.

We watched for a moment, and then Sirius said, "Now."

I tucked the Invisibility Cloak into the pocket of my robes and then transformed into the stag. When I looked over, I saw that Sirius was now a huge black dog and Jen was now a huge white wolf.

As one, we crept toward the entrance and inside, me first, with Peter on my back, Jen following me, and Sirius bringing up the rear. We walked until we reached the door, and then I used my antlers to scratch against it.

After a few moments, Remus opened the door, looking as pale as it was possible for him to get. "Hey, guys," he said as he moved aside to let us in. "It'll start soon."

I passed and saw Remus reach out to pat Jen on the head. "You don't have to do this, you know."

She regarded him with cold eyes and then moved so that Sirius could come inside as well. When we were all there, we sat and waited, Remus growing more and more agitated with every passing second.

Jen and Sirius both laid down in a similar fashion but I remained standing and Peter stayed on my back, both of us watching. Soon enough, I knew that Sirius and Jen were asleep and I wanted to roll my eyes. How was it possible for them to sleep at a time like this? But, I didn't wake them up because I knew that as soon as anything began to happen, they would be on their feet and ready to fight in an instant. Plus, they both got extremely cranky when they lost too much sleep.

Remus' head suddenly snapped up and he looked at the window, at the orb that was suddenly shining in the sky. "It's time," he whispered and then it started. At first, he just writhed around on the floor, but then I began to see the visible change that I had seen so many times before.

I turned to nudge Jen and Sirius awake, but they were already on their feet, ready to go. In silence, we watched Remus scream and writhe around as he turned into the beast. Finally, it was over, and he was looking at us with large, dark eyes.

I looked to Jen and Sirius to see if they were ready and they both gave me nods.

And then it was complete and Remus stood before us, a newly transformed werewolf.

We all stood perfectly still, knowing that it was best. Slowly, Remus crept towards us, smelling the air all around us before he finally recognized us as something other than prey.

When I turned, Sirius was already at the door to the shack, waiting for my signal. I took a place on one side of Remus as Peter clambered up onto my back and Jen took up a position on the other side.

I nodded and then Sirius maneuvered his nose to get the door to fall off of its hinges.

And then we took off into the night.

~Jen's POV~

When I woke up, I was a little confused as to where I was. I'd had the strangest dream… Something about a dog and a stag and a rat and a werewolf… And then reality came rushing back and I remembered the full moon and Remus' transformation.

I sat up in my bed and looked around, noticing that none of my roommates were in bed. They were all probably outside, enjoying the pleasant day. With a groan, I sank back down and then brought my arms up so that I could examine them.

No cuts.

Nothing felt broken.

With a sigh of relief, I pulled myself out of bed and to the bathroom to take a shower. I stayed in there for what felt like hours, letting the warm water relieve some of the tension in my tight muscles. I was always tense after the full moon, though I wasn't really sure why. Maybe all of the work that I had to do to keep Remus from killing some innocent citizen of Hogsmeade.

After my shower, I dried my hair with magic and pulled on some jeans and a simple blue blouse. I let my hair stay like it was – naturally wavy – and decided that I didn't want to mess with makeup. So, I sat down on my bed and began to write a letter to Mum and Dad, being sure to put in some things about James because he hardly ever thought to write them.

When I finished the letter, I made myself finish my Transfiguration essay before I went up to the Owlery. Once there, I sent the letter and watched as the owl disappeared into the distance, growing smaller and smaller until I could no longer see it.

Free.

I sighed and began to sing softly. "I hear the ticking of the clock, I'm lyin' here, the room's pitch dark. I wonder where you are tonight, no answer on the telephone. But the night goes by so very slow. Oh, I hope that it won't end, though, alone."

The song really was kind of strange, but something about it sounded _right_ with my voice. I wasn't sure why, but it almost sounded like I'd been born to sing that song. I mean, I hadn't had the sheet music for it for more than a couple of days, but I already had the words and the notes memorized. If Professor Flitwick would just let me sing it alone, we could win. But Beauxbatons wanted a duet competition. And that made me feel doomed.

"Til now, I always got by on my own…" I stopped there because on the next line, the guy was supposed to join in. And I didn't want to start singing that part unless the guy that I was going to be singing it with was practicing with me. Because too much could change, and I didn't want it to be too difficult for me to change notes.

I turned around and that's when I saw him.

Regulus Black.

_How long has he been standing there?_

_What's he doing up here?_

_Merlin, I need to get out._

I didn't have my wand and the last thing that I needed was for his gang to find me and realize that I was wandless. They would attempt to tear me apart. And they might succeed…

But Regulus just continued to tie the letter to his eagle owl's foot. When he turned and saw me, he gave me a respectful nod. "Hey."

_Hey_. That threw me a bit, I had to admit. He was being so casual, as if we ran into each other in the Owlery all of the time. Which we didn't. I almost thought that he had followed me up here, but I realized that he had a letter that he was sending. But, still, he'd been there and I hadn't known it, which freaked me out. "Hi…" I said cautiously, watching him.

He walked to a window and stuck his arm outside so that his owl could take off. He watched as it flew, much like I had done.

"Ummm…" I said, feeling awkward as I began to take small steps towards the door. "How long have you been up here?"

He shrugged. "A minute or two."

A minute or two. "So, you heard me singing?" He'd heard me sing before, I was sure, at school on the stage. But me singing alone in the Owlery was different.

He nodded and turned around, his short black hair ruffling in the wind. "Yeah, I did. Um, are you going to-" He gestured toward the door and I realized that he was politely asking if he could get around me to the door.

"No, I'm not leaving yet," I lied and stepped aside.

He gave a small smile, as if he didn't believe me, and then he moved for the door. "Okay." He opened it and had just stepped outside when he turned and poked his head back in. "Jennifer?"

I looked at him, curious and cautious. Curious because I wondered what he wanted and cautious because he never talked to me (and he was a Slytherin). "Yeah?"

He gave me a half smile that was mocking, in a way. "You don't have to be afraid of me, you know. I wouldn't hurt you."

My mouth fell open, but no sound came out. How had he read my mind?

Before I could get my voice back, he was gone.


	11. Chapter 11

~James' POV~

"I hate full moons," I grumbled as I pulled on clothes, not even really caring what they were.

"Me too," Sirius agreed as he raked his fingers through his hair, which was getting a little on the shaggy side.

Peter was still asleep beneath the covers, oblivious to the world around him.

"Should we wake him?" I asked.

Sirius shook his head and stopped trying to put his left shoe on his right foot. "Nah. He'll wake up eventually and he knows where the kitchens are. Come on; I'm starving."

"Quick stop at the kitchens," I said as we headed for the door. "And then we'll drop by the hospital wing to see Moony."

"Agreed."

We descended the stairs and walked through the common room, ignoring all stares. Then, we left and headed for the kitchens, both of us still extremely groggy.

"I wonder how Jen is," I commented.

Sirius shrugged. "No clue. I don't remember much from last night, to be honest. Seems a good sleep erases memories better than firewhiskey."

"Feels like it," I said as I took my glasses off so that I could rub my eyes.

"But we would remember if she'd gotten hurt."

I nodded. "We wouldn't have gone to sleep if she had been."

"Exactly."

We made it to the kitchens and the house elves approached us at once, begging to take our orders. I looked over to see that Sirius was grinning just like I was. He had a house elf at home named Kreacher, but he always told me that Kreacher was the worst living thing on the planet. Like Sirius' parents, Kreacher much preferred Regulus. Sirius, on the other hand, despised his younger brother. He despised anyone that agreed with his parents' philosophies.

"I'll have a few bacon sandwiches," I told the house elf nearest me, and it ran off to get me some.

"Pastries," Sirius said. "Blueberry, please."

Another house elf gave us two glasses filled with pumpkin juice and we eagerly drank until our food was prepared. After we got our food, we thanked them and then brushed off their offers to get us more food.

Sirius laughed once we were outside. "Always eager."

"It almost makes me want to cry," I agreed before I bit into a sandwich. Once I'd chewed and swallowed, I said, "And Jen wants to cry too, but for a different reason."

Sirius nodded. "She seriously thinks that they're mistreated here. Dumbledore offers them pay and vacation, doesn't he?"

"He does, but they don't take it." I took another bite. "She's just really sympathetic to all creatures, no matter what the situation."

He swallowed a pastry whole. "If she could meet Kreacher, she wouldn't think that way. He's vile; she would hate him."

"Maybe they should be introduced." I finished off one sandwich and moved to the next. "Are we heading back to the dorm?"

He shrugged. "I guess so. I was following you."

"Great," I mumbled. "I was following you."

"We should take turns being the leader," he suggested as we turned to alter our course. "It would settle all of this confusion."

"Or maybe we should just agree on where we're going before we take off."

"That would work too."

I was about to comment, but a voice said, "James!"

I finished off my sandwich and wiped my mouth off with the napkin before I turned to see Hale Jacobs walking towards me. "What's he want?" I muttered.

"Guess you'll find out," Sirius said and continued to nibble on a pastry.

"Hey," Hale smiled politely as he approached and stopped a few feet in front of me. "I was going to talk to you at breakfast, but you didn't come down."

"What's up?" I asked politely, just wanting to be back in my bed.

Hale let out a breath and rubbed the back of his neck. "The thing is, the next Hogsmeade weekend is coming up and I-"

"He's taken," Sirius said. "He always goes to Hogsmeade with me. Haven't you noticed?"

Hale blushed. "I was actually going to ask if I could take your sister."

If I'd had any sandwiches left, I would have dropped them right on the floor. "You want to ask Jen to Hogsmeade?"

"I thought I'd ask you first," he said. "I would never do anything inappropriate or-"

Sirius began to laugh. "Mate, James has no control over-"

"Can it," I said and kicked him. I looked back at Hale. "You know what, normally, I would say no. But, you were very polite about it and you're a prefect so…" I thought for a moment. "Okay. _But_, there are rules."

Hale nodded solemnly. "Such as?"

I ticked them off on my fingers as I said them. "She has to be back in the castle early; she has a performance that night with the choir. You will not hold her hand or put your arm around her for any reason, I don't care if she's in danger of falling on her arse. You will be polite and cordial at all times; if I hear that you were rude, you won't like what you get."

"And no snogging," Sirius put in.

I pointed at Sirius. "That rule goes quadruple."

Hale smiled. "Okay; I can handle that."

"I'm serious," I told him. "Wipe that smile off your face. No smiling."

"Is that a rule for the date, too?" he asked, confused.

I pointed a finger at him. "Don't push it, kid. Get outta here."

He obediently turned and walked away and I watched him for a moment before I did the same. "Hmm…"

"Jen could do worse," Sirius pointed out. "And she _has_. She dated Ernie, remember?"

I shuddered. "Yeah, I remember that."

"And at least he came and asked your permission," he put in as he finished his last pastry and used his wand to vanish the napkin. "How many blokes do you know that would do that?"

"Not many," I conceded and then sighed. "You're right; he's as good a guy as any. But he'll never be good enough for Jen."

Sirius shot me a smile. "No guy ever will."

~Jen's POV~

"I still can't get it," Kendra grumbled as she untangled the braid.

I patted her arm. "Stick with magic."

"I don't know the spell."

"I'll write it down," I told her and climbed off of her bed to grab my bag.

"Where are you going?" Beth asked, looking up from her Astronomy chart.

I hefted the bag onto my shoulder and let out a sigh. "The library. I really need to get some sources for the Arithmancy essay that I have to do."

My roommates all shuddered.

"Good luck," Beth told me.

"Glad I'm not you," Kendra put in.

"Totally," Emma and Cassie said at the same time, not even looking up from their nails.

I rolled my eyes. "I'll see you guys for dinner."

"Bye."

"See ya."

I made it out of the common room without too much trouble and then headed in the direction of the library, hoping that it would be quiet. Madame Prince did a very good job of getting people to be quiet, but sometimes, there were teachers that would come in and talk to each other in loud, annoying voices. And Madame Prince could do nothing to stop that.

But, if it got too unbearably loud, she always let me use her office to study. She had taken a liking to me in my first year and since then, she'd always been eager to do anything that she could for me. One time, she'd even let me get a book out of the Restricted Section without a teacher's signature.

But when I walked into the library, it was nice and quiet and I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe the silence would last for the next few hours.

"Miss Potter."

I turned to see Madame Prince smiling at me and I smiled back at her. "Good evening, Madame Prince."

"Are you going to need help finding anything today?"

"Not today," I told her. "I think I've got this pretty well handled. But I appreciate it."

She nodded and beamed. "Of course, of course. And if you need any help, you just let me know."

"I will," I said and headed off to my usual table, which was in a back corner where hardly anyone ever wandered. (Except for Sirius once during one of his "conquests" with a girl. They were on the table when I found them and, well…. I try not to think about it. But, needless to say, I checked out a book on cleaning spells and used many of them on that table.) I set everything out of my bag that I needed and then moved to go and find the books that I would be needing.

I found the first two no problem and set them down at the table on my way to find the third. But, after a long search, it was nowhere to be found. Frowning, I spun around and looked at the opposite shelf. "It has to be here somewhere," I muttered. "How hard can it be to find _Powers You Never Knew You Had and What to Do with Them Now You've Wised Up_? That's a huge title; it can't be that hard to spot."

"It's right here."

I jumped and turned to see Regulus Black holding up the book.

_Merlin, why do I keep running into him?_

He gestured to the empty spot that he must have taken the book from. "It was right here."

I reached for it slowly. "Thanks…"

He gave me a half smile that almost looked like his brother's. "Apparently, my statement about me not hurting you wasn't one that you took to heart."

Embarrassed, I reached out more confidently and grabbed the book. "I'm sorry. Thank you."

He nodded his head and took a step back. "I'll leave you alone, since you seem much more comfortable when I'm not around."

I opened my mouth to retort, but he was already walking away.

_He's been watching me?_

But oddly, it didn't creep me out.


	12. Chapter 12

~Jen's POV~

"You're all doing very well," Professor Bauer approved. "No homework this time. You're all free to go."

Beth sighed and put all of her stuff back into her bag. "This class is so hard."

I snapped my bag shut and laughed as I shouldered it. "Did you really expect it to be easy? Professor Bauer is preparing us for real life situations."

"I know that," she said as she followed me to the door of the room. "And I do appreciate it; it's just that this class is stressing me out more than I thought it would."

"Because you try too hard."

"How can you try too hard in a class?" she asked me.

I sidestepped a slow moving Slytherin and exited. "You try too hard on your spells, which is why you can't get them, which is what's stressing you out. Just let go and you'll get it."

"Easy for you to say," she mumbled. "Everything is easy for you. Naturally beautiful, naturally smart, naturally talented…"

"Beth." I stopped walking and faced her.

She faced me and smiled gently as she reached out to touch my arm. "I don't mean that as a bad thing, Jen. Not at all. I wasn't taking anger out on you and I don't hate you for being perfect. But I wish you could see how it is."

"I have flaws, Beth."

She smiled. "I know. But I have more." Then, she continued walking and I followed. We made it into the Great Hall and saw our roommates, but a person blocked the way when I tried to go to them. "Hey, Jen, can I talk to you for a minute?"

I tilted my head back slightly and saw that it was Hale Jacobs that had asked. I looked to Beth, who was grinning at me and nodding her head vigorously. Then, I looked back at Hale. "Sure."

"See you in a minute," Beth said and headed off to where Kendra, Emma, and Cassie were sitting, all of them watching me.

Hale smiled. "How are you?"

"Good," I told him. "You?"

"I'm good." He rubbed the back of his neck and then sighed. "I just wanted to ask you something."

I readjusted the bag on my shoulder. "Then ask."

He looked nervous. "I just wanted to know if you would want to come to Hogsmeade with me on Saturday."

My heart thudded in my chest for a million different reasons. I hadn't dated any guys since Ernie, and that was because I wasn't sure that I wanted to. I had this dream (call it a fantasy if you want) that I would find the guy that was perfect for me someday and that when I did, it would all work out and I would _know_ that he was the one. But, I hadn't found him yet. What if I was dating Hale when this guy came along? Or, worse, what if Hale really was the one and I didn't give him a fair chance? All of these thoughts swirled around in my head and made it difficult to concentrate.

But I did hear him say, "I already asked your brother and he approved."

That cleared my head. "You asked James if you could ask me out?"

He smiled at me. "Well, yeah. You said that he doesn't really like any guy that talks to you, so I figured I might as well try to get on his good side before I asked you out."

"And he said yes?" I asked, surprised.

Hale exhaled a laugh. "Yeah, I was surprised too."

"Yeah," I mumbled.

"So…?" he asked me.

I reached a hand up and fiddled with a strand of my curly hair. "Um, yeah. That sounds fine. But I have to be back kind of early because-"

"James already told me."

I raised an eyebrow. "He did?"

Hale laughed. "He gave me rules."

I slapped my forehead with my hand. "Oh, Merlin."

He laughed. "They weren't bad. Listen, we can just meet outside the castle Saturday, alright? I'll let you get back to your friends."

I looked at him and smiled. "That sounds good. Thanks."

"See you," he said and passed me.

"See ya."

I hadn't even set my bag down yet when Kendra asked, "What was _that_?"

I slid onto the bench beside Beth. "He asked me out."

They all squealed.

"What'd you say?" Emma asked me, leaning forward as if that would make her hear the answer faster.

"I said yes," I shrugged and reached for the pitcher of water.

They all squealed again and I winced.

"So are you two going to Hogsmeade together this Saturday?" Beth asked, seemingly the calmest of the group.

I nodded and buttered a piece of bread. "Yeah, we are."

"We have to find the perfect outfit," Kendra said.

"That pink top?"

"Or the blue one," Emma offered.

I looked at Beth, shaking my head in a mixture of amusement and disbelief. "You'd think that _they_ were the ones going on the date."

She laughed. "Well, first date clothes are important, you know. You don't want to send the wrong message."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't even know what the _right_ message is."

"That you're a young, sweet, innocent girl that wants to remain a virgin until her wedding night," James said as he slid into the seat beside me with a devilish grin.

"Or longer," Sirius put in as he sat across from James.

I rolled my eyes. "We weren't talking to you."

"You should wear a turtleneck," James said as if he hadn't heard me. He reached for the bread. "And some jeans."

"Yeah, and maybe I'll put a scarf around my face too so that absolutely no skin is showing," I said sarcastically and with a roll of my eyes.

Without taking his eyes off of the bread that he was buttering, James said, "That would be fantastic. Do you have one big enough? I suppose you could borrow Sirius'…"

"But you'll have to be sure to bring it back," Sirius jumped in as he poured himself some pumpkin juice. "It's French silk, you see, and I would be very upset if I lost it."

My roommates giggled, but I just rolled my eyes. I was used to Sirius' and James' antics. So, I looked past them and at Remus. "I got a very high mark on that Ancient Runes essay that you helped me with."

He laughed. "I recommended one book."

"Which I used in most of the essay," I pointed out and reached for another piece of bread. "I have it in my room, by the way. I'll get it back to you tonight."

"Sure."

"How should we do your hair?" Kendra asked, looking at nothing, concentrating.

"Depends on the outfit," Emma said.

"Everything depends on the outfit," Cassie said. "Even the makeup. So we're going to have to figure out-"

"Guys," I cut in. "Just drop it for now, okay? It's only Monday. We have until Saturday to figure it out."

Kendra's mouth dropped open. "You can't just pick out your outfit the _day of_ the date! You have to have some foreknowledge so that-"

"Yeah, Jen!" James nudged me and winked. "What are you even thinking?"

"You've lost your marbles," Sirius said, his mouth full.

"Sirius, stop talking with your mouth full. James, stop talking in general."

Remus laughed until James kicked him under the table.

"You know," my brother said. "Hale came and asked me for permission to ask you out."

"He did?" Beth asked, surprised.

"That's so sweet!" Kendra said as she tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"Adorable," Cassie agreed.

I nodded and ladled some dumplings onto my plate. "Yes, I know. He told me. He also told me that you gave him some rules." I set the bowl down and leveled him with a look. "What kind of rules, James?"

He looked taken aback. "Just the usual ones, Jen. Sirius and I stuck to the basics."

"And what are the usual ones?" I asked him, not looking away. I was almost scared to hear what they had to say, but I would be too curious if they didn't tell me.

"You know," he said. "He has to walk like a duck all the way to town."

"He has to dress in slacks and one of his mother's blouses," Sirius put in.

"He has to talk in a high, squeaky voice."

"Like Peter's."

"Hey!" Peter protested in a high, squeaky voice, which made James and Sirius crack up.

I sighed and looked back at my plate. "On second thought, I don't want to know."

James shrugged. "If you say so."

Remus started talking about Transfiguration and I listened partly to that and partly to Kendra's makeup plans for me. When the meal was finally over, I stood up and asked Beth, "Want to come to the library with me to see if we can find that book that we're going to need for Flitwick's class?"

"Sure," she said and stood.

"We'll talk outfits later," Kendra said as if she thought that I was going to be worried about it.

"And hair!" Emma put in.

"And makeup!" Cassie said.

I sighed and Beth and I walked away from the table. Beth laughed a little and looked at me. "We're all very interested in your date with Hale."

"Obviously," I said.

She elbowed me lightly in the ribs. "Especially since you said that you would never date him."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't expect a cordial invitation to a ceremony so that you can say 'I told you so'."

"I won't," she said. "But only because I'm a good friend."


	13. Chapter 13

~Jen's POV~

"Here, hold on. Let me pin it off to the side."

I sighed in frustration. "Why can't we just leave it curled like it is?"

"Because it would look so much cuter off to the side!" Kendra said and pinned it so that it all fell over my left shoulder. "There! Don't you think so?"

"I don't care," I grumbled. "As long as I can go now."

"Stop talking," Emma commanded. "I have to put your lipstick on."

"Why do I have to wear lipstick?" I asked. "He's seen me without lipstick before."

"Shh," she said and began to apply the light pink lipstick. "And that's exactly why. He's seen you without it before, so now he has to see you with it. We want him to see you from all angles."

I traced geometric patterns on my jeans and pulled at the hem of my yellow blouse. After we'd come up from breakfast, my roommates had spent all of their time preparing me for the date. Well, all except for Cassie, who was sick in bed with a cold. I'd offered to walk her to the Hospital Wing, but she had refused, claiming that she wanted to at least watch me be prepped for the date.

"Okay," Beth said from her place on the floor. "Don't be cooler than he is."

"What?" I asked and received a pinch from Emma, who had to wipe some gloss off of the side of my mouth.

"Don't be cooler than he is," she repeated. "If he tells you something, don't try to one-up him. And try not to get lost in thought like you do sometimes; he'll think you're not interested. Oh, and make sure you pay attention to what he talks about, because you might need to remember it later and-"

_I wonder if Hale's roommates are being this much trouble._

"Done!" Emma squealed and held up a mirror so that I could see. My flawless face was covered with a light powder and the eyeshadow that she had used was bright, which made my hazel eyes shine. She had applied the black eyeliner perfectly, and my lashes looked long and utterly magnificent. Pale pink blush highlighted my cheeks and my lips looked very shiny.

"You did good," I told her with a smile as I pushed the mirror down. "Very good."

She smiled at me. "Thanks. You look awesome, Jen."

I stood up and slipped into the black shoes that had been picked out for me. Then, I looked at myself in the full length mirror and sighed. "I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"You can go ahead and go," Kendra said as she pulled on a black blouse. "Emma and I have to get ready."

I looked at Beth, confused. "What about you?"

She tossed her dirty blonde hair over her shoulder and moved to sit on her bed. "I'm going to stay here and watch Cassie. If she gets worse, I'll take her to the Hospital Wing."

"I'll be fine," Cassie coughed. "You can go ahead and go."

Beth rolled her eyes. "Not a chance. But someone bring me back some chocolate."

"I will," Kendra volunteered.

I smiled at them all. "I'm going to go ahead and meet Hale. I'll see you guys after the Halloween feast."

"Good luck!" Emma said.

"Don't mess up your hair," Kendra commanded.

Cassie coughed again. "Have fun."

Beth rolled her eyes and gave me a small wave. "Good luck at the Halloween feast tonight. Not that you ever need luck."

I smiled at her. "Thanks. See ya."

I made my way through the castle and finally made it to the front doors, where Filch was checking names off of a list. He gave me the evil eye, but waved me through anyway and I found Hale standing just outside.

"Hey," he smiled. "I was waiting for you. You look great."

He did too, actually. He wore jeans and a black button-up shirt, and his hair was laid down flat, but spiked at the front. "Thank you. So do you."

He gestured. "Shall we go, then?"

"Sounds good."

We began to walk and I wished that I had brought a jacket, because it was actually quite chilly. But, my roommates hadn't been able to find a jacket that would "go perfectly" with my outfit, so I had to do without.

"I love fall," Hale said. "It's not too hot, not too cold."

I nodded my head slowly. "It's pretty."

"What's your favorite season?"

"Winter," I said and moved out of the way for an excited group of third years. Was I ever that small once? They just seemed so tiny.

He shuddered and laughed. "Why? Winter's too cold."

"I love the cold," I told him. "And snow; I love the snow. And, I don't know, it just always seems like I'm happiest in the winter."

"And winter has Christmas," he put in.

"That's true."

"But fall has Halloween," he said and smiled. "Which is my favorite holiday, especially at Hogwarts. The house elves outdo themselves every year on Halloween. I don't see how they decorate all of those cakes."

"There's a lot of them," I said and then realized that I shouldn't have known that. "I mean, that's what I've read, anyways."

"I heard about what your brother did for Snape," he said.

I smiled. "The whole school did. Everyone was shocked."

He nodded. "Yeah, that about sums it up. But I'm impressed, too, ya know? I mean, who would have thought that he'd grow into such a great Head Boy?"

"I knew that he would if he wanted to," I said. "He's good at whatever he tries."

Hale looked over at me and smiled. "Kind of like his sister."

I blushed and changed the subject. "So, where are we going?"

He shrugged. "I didn't have a preference; you can pick."

"I don't care."

He sighed. "Okay, then. How about Three Broomsticks?"

I nodded, already tasting the butterbeer. "That sounds amazing."

We headed into the Three Broomsticks and got a table, and Hale ordered two butterbeers. When they arrived at the table, I breathed the scent in deeply before I took a large drink. "Mmm."

He laughed. "You like butterbeer, huh?"

"It's my favorite," I said and then took another long drink. Butterbeer brought back a lot of good memories of fun times in Hogsmeade with the Marauders. Actually, it felt kind of weird, not having them sitting at the table with me. But, I had always known that we would all grow up one day and go our separate ways. But, I was convinced that we would remain friends forever.

"So," he said. "What is the choir performing for the Halloween feast?"

I began to reply, but then I got the strangest feeling that someone was watching me. So, instead, I said, "Um, it's supposed to be a secret."

He grinned. "Oh, come on. You can tell me."

And that's when I saw them over Hale's shoulder. The Marauders were all sitting at the bar, all of them watching me except for Remus, who had brought along a book and was reading it intently.

_I can't believe them. What are they thinking, following me here on a date?_

"Jen?"

I shook my head to clear the thought and looked back at Hale with a smile. I couldn't let him know that my brother and his best friends had followed us here. That might make him a little uneasy. "Yeah?" I asked.

He smiled. "Come on, just tell me."

I tried to remember what we were talking about. _Oh, the Halloween feast._ "It's actually a mash-up of songs. They're all Muggle songs, but wizards helped to compose them, so…"

"What are they?"

When he looked down at his drink, I shot James and Sirius a death glare. They both shrugged in response and Sirius toasted me with his own butterbeer. "Um, the first one is _This is Halloween_ and the second is called _Werewolves in London._ The last one is the newest one. Apparently, there's a new Muggle movie that came out and it's called _Ghostbusters_, so the song is the theme from the movie."

He looked up and smiled at me. "That sounds really interesting."

I shrugged. "It really isn't." When I looked back over towards the Marauders, Remus looked up at me and mouthed _I'm sorry_.

I finished off my butterbeer and said, "Do you wanna get out of here?"

He shrugged. "Sounds good. Where did you want to go?"

"Um," I said as I stood up. "How 'bout Honeydukes?"

He smiled. "That actually sounds really good. I've been craving their Peppermint Imps for some time now."

We exited the Three Broomsticks and made our way down the street. When we finally made it into Honeydukes, it was crowded, for which I was thankful. If the Marauders followed us in here, they would have a hard time spotting us. Hale bought a lot of Peppermint Imps and then insisted that I pick out a candy. So, I chose Ice Mice and then we left the store.

He looked down at a watch that he had. "When do you need to be back?"

"Soon," I told him. "Cassie is sick in the room and I want to check on her before I go down to the choir room to warm up for the performance."

He nodded. "Let's head back to the castle, then."

As we walked, the wind blowing all around us, I looked around for James, Sirius, Remus, or Peter, but they were nowhere to be seen. However, I did catch glimpses of a big, black dog every now and then.

And every time that I did, I would roll my eyes.


	14. Chapter 14

~James' POV~

"Lighten up, Moony."

Remus rolled his eyes. "I'm just saying, maybe you should let her have a little more freedom and quit following her around every time that she's with a guy. She's a big girl now, you know."

"Yes, I know that," I said. "But I'm still the older brother and I have to look out for her."

He sighed and filled a glass with water. "I realize that, James, but this is a little overboard. And besides, she's going to grow to resent that."

"What's that mean?" Sirius asked as he took the seat beside me. "You think Jen's going to start sneaking around or something?"

"She better not," I said immediately.

"That's not what I'm saying," Remus said. "I'm just saying that you need to let go."

I shook my head vigorously. "Not going to happen."

He opened his mouth to speak again, but Dumbledore spoke from the front of the room and everyone grew silent. "And now, our choir has a performance for you all."

There was a smattering of applause and then the music started and the choir crept out, appearing as if from nowhere amid smoke and flying bats. "Ah, ah, ah, ahhh. Ah, ah, ah, ahhh. Ah, ah, ah, ahhhh, ahhhh, ah. Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange? Come with us and you will see; this, our town of Halloween. This is Halloween, this is Halloween."

A huge pumpkin flew forward and its mouth moved, but Jen's voice came out. "Pumpkins scream in the dead of night."

"This is Halloween…"

A fifth year guy sang, "Everybody make a scene. Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright."

Jen sang again, though I couldn't see her among the mass of choir members that were creeping around slowly. "It's our town, everybody scream."

"In this town of Halloween…"

And then I saw her coming from the back of the room, creeping forward slowly, the ghosts all following her and looking rather pleased at their performance. When Jen sang, it was in a very creepy voice. "I am the one hiding under your bed. Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red."

The fifth year guy sang again from the front. "I am the one hiding under your stairs. Fingers like twigs with spiders in my hair."

"This is Halloween; this is Halloween. Halloween, Halloween, Halloween….."

The music suddenly changed and I knew that it was a different song. All of the choir members except for two guys sank down to their knees and the first guy began to sing. "I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand. Walking the streets of Soho in the rain." I looked to Remus to see how the song was affecting him, but his eyes were glued to the performance and he didn't look the least bit uncomfortable.

The other sang. "He was looking for the place called Lee Ho Fooks. Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein."

The first guy sang again. "Ya hear him howlin' around your kitchen door. Better not let him in."

The other sang. "Little old lady got mutilated late last night. Werewolves in London again."

The rest of the choir stood and began to sing. "Aaahooo. Werewolves in London. Aaahhhh. Werewolves in London. Aaahooo. Werewolves in London."

And then the music changed again and the choir yelled, "Ghostbusters!" The ghosts all began to fly around the choir members as they continued to sing.

A guy sang. "When there's something strange in your neighborhood. Who you gonna call?"

Everyone else chanted. "Ghostbusters!"

"When there's something weird, and it don't look good. Who you gonna call?"

"Ghostbusters!"

And then Jen stepped forward and held out a long note, turning it into a kind of growl towards the end. It was impressive.

And then another girl said, "I ain't afraid of no ghost."

A guy held out a note, but it wasn't as impressive as Jen's.

And then, Jen smiled and said with a shrug, "I ain't afraid of no ghost."

Everyone sang, "If you've had a dose of a freaky ghost baby. Ya better call Ghostbusters! I think you better call…."

And everyone yelled, "Ghostbusters!" And the music ended.

Needless to say, they received a standing ovation. I'd never heard something that good before, even from them. The whole performance had been astounding.

The choir bowed and began to move back to their seats just as the feast appeared on the table.

Jen took the seat between Sirius and I and I immediately said, "That was the best performance ever."

She laughed and reached for the pitcher of water. "I agree. It was a lot of fun doing the creepy voices and everything."

"I liked the things about werewolves in London," Sirius said with a grin in Remus' direction.

Remus rolled his eyes. "It was good, Jen."

"Thanks," she replied.

"So," I said as if I were just making polite conversation. "How was the date with Hale?"

"You would know," she replied. "You were there the whole time."

"In my defense," Remus said, "I didn't want to go. And I told James that he needed to let you alone, especially with stuff like this."

"I like Remus," Jen declared and took a huge gulp of water.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm your older brother. It's my job to protect you."

"Protect me as in help me if a gang of Slytherins are shooting curses at my head. Not as in go on every date with me."

I shook my head. "Both of those have equal importance in my book. I have to be there for everything."

"No," she said as she speared a potato. "You don't. I'm a big girl, James."

"I said that, too," Remus muttered softly.

"Shh, Moony," I said and then looked at her. "Don't you think I know that? Don't you think that I see the way that guys look at you?"

She looked at me curiously. "James…"

"No," I said. "I'm not finished. There are guys out there like Sirius that only want to get you in their bed and I am _not_ going to let that happen."

She rolled her eyes, but I knew that she saw how serious I was. "James, do you think that I'm that stupid?"

"The girls that Sirius sleeps with aren't stupid, either," I told her.

"Actually," Sirius said around a mouthful of roast. "Most of them are. But there have been some smart ones-"

I shot Sirius a look to shut him up and then continued. "When you find one that I'm absolutely sure about, then I'll leave you alone. But until then, you'll be seeing a lot of me on dates."

She rolled her eyes but didn't argue. Maybe because she knew that I was right or maybe because she knew that there was no point in arguing.

Remus took over the conversation with questions to Jen about how the search for her duet partner was going.

"Not well," she said glumly. "It's going to be really hard."

"When's the competition?"

"Towards the end of the year," she said. "We have time. But, so far, it's been wasted time."

"Jen!"

My sister looked down the table to see Lily smiling at her. "Hey, Lily."

"That was a brilliant performance," Lily said.

"Thanks," Jen replied.

And then Lily went back to talking to her friends and I looked at Jen.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"Why does Lily always talk to you and never to me?"

She laughed. "First of all, James, Lily doesn't _always_ talk to me; it's not like we're best mates or anything. Secondly, it might be because you ruined any chance of friendship that you two could have had by asking her out every single day since you two have met."

I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. "She'll fall in love with me someday. Just watch."

"Sure she will, mate," Sirius said and asked Jen to pass the salt.

"She will!" I proclaimed. "Because now that I'm no longer a bullying toerag, she'll see all of my good qualities. Like how smart I am. And how good looking I am. And how charming I can be when I'm given the chance. And how sweet and caring I can be when I care about something. And how much fun I can be to be around."

"And how humble you are, James," Remus put in, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Let's not forget about your humility."

Everyone else laughed but I just glared at Remus.

Jen finished laughing and ruffled my hair affectionately. "Remus is right, James. Maybe if you'd deflate your head just a little bit, Lily would see all of the good things underneath."

I let out a huff of breath. "Okay, deflate my head. How do I do that?"

She laughed again and shrugged. "It's pretty simple, really. Just stop thinking that you're the most amazing bloke on the planet."

"But I am."

She rolled her eyes. "Do you want to date Lily or not?"

I sighed. "Fine. Okay, so be humble." The word tasted weird on my tongue. "Alright, I can do that."

"And deflate your head," Remus reminded me. "That's essential."

"Crucial," Jen agreed.

"Impossible," Sirius muttered.

I reached my leg around Jen's to kick Sirius. "It's not impossible. I can do this." And then, a thought occurred to me. "But I can still know that I'm the best Chaser that Hogwarts has ever had, right?"

Sirius rolled his eyes and Remus laughed.

Jen shrugged. "Think whatever you want, James. Whatever makes you happy."


	15. Chapter 15

~James' POV~

"James, please try to focus on your essay."

"I can't!" I said in exasperation, putting my head in my hands.

"It's just Hufflepuff, James," Sirius said as he sucked rather loudly on a bright orange lollipop. "You won't have any trouble."

"But it's the first match," I reasoned. "And first matches are always hard on everyone. And Hufflepuff has already had a match and-"

"What does any of this have to do with Memory Charms?" Remus asked. "Really, James, Professor Flitwick hinted that they are generally in the N.E.W.T.s."

"I could care less about Memory Charms," I said, aggravated. I pushed my parchment and quill away.

"Why do people say that?" Sirius asked as he licked his lollipop.

"Say what?" Peter asked him.

"I could care less," Sirius said. "What they really want to say is 'I _couldn't_ care less', so why don't they just say that?"

"Are _you_ done with your essay?" Remus asked him.

He hung his head and looked back down at his mostly blank piece of parchment. "Not yet, Mum."

I looked at the clock and my heart began to pound when I realized what time it was. I shakily stood up and said, "Well, it's time for practice."

Sirius made a move as if to stand. "I'll-"

Remus cleared his throat rather pointedly.

Sirius sheepishly sank back down. "I'll stay here and work on my essay."

I gave a nod and grabbed my broom before heading off, growing increasingly nervous with every step. If we lost to Hufflepuff, I would never live it down. Not that I thought that we were so horrible that we would lose to Hufflepuff, it was just that the team might get really nervous about the first match, especially the newest members. And nervousness could be very, very bad.

"You look scared, honey," Jen said in a condescending voice as she fell into step beside me.

I shook my head. "Just a little nervous. For everyone, I mean. First match and all."

She nodded and put a spell on her broom so that it would follow her without her having to physically hold it. Then, she began to pull her straight hair into a messy bun. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Saw you walking to class with Hale today," I told her, needing to talk about something else. _Anything_ else.

She rolled her eyes and finished with her messy bun. "Worst subject change ever; I'm almost disappointed. But, yes, we were walking to class together. Does that go against one of your rules or something?"

I shook my head. "Actually, I completely forgot about that one until today."

"Good," she muttered.

I smiled and put my arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to me. "You know you're my favorite little sister."

"I'm your only little sister." She pushed away from me as we approached the field. "Looks like everyone's here already."

My nervousness increased, but I put a mask on as I stepped forward and ordered everyone into the air. I released the Quaffle and we worked with passing for a little while before I let the Beaters let out the Bludgers. Michael and Neil were both doing very well, which relaxed me just a little bit.

After about half an hour of practicing, I called out, "Jen!"

She barrel rolled to avoid a Bludger and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

I nodded to her. "Go ahead and let the Snitch out."

She grinned and gave me a mock salute before flying off to the box to let the Snitch go. I saw the gold flint as it escaped and watched her count slowly to twenty before she took off in pursuit. I remembered when she had taught me how to properly catch a Snitch. It had been in her fourth (my fifth) year and after she taught me, I couldn't stop playing with it. I brought a Snitch with me everywhere just to play with. And that was when I first realized Jen's love for being a Seeker. It was fun, after all. But I wasn't really Seeker material – Jen was a much faster flyer and she had a natural instinct. Sometimes, I thought that she had been born to catch the Snitch.

She caught it and held it for only a few seconds before she let it go again. I watched her give it a head start and then she took off.

Finally, I called everyone to the ground. After we had put all of the balls away, I told everyone to sit down and they all sat in a semi-circle around me, waiting. I cleared my throat and then spoke. "You all did very well today; it was a good practice. Now, I just want to let everyone know – especially the new members," here, I looked at Neil and Michael, "that it's not that much different. Our first match is tomorrow and you'll be nervous, but it's going to be okay. Just take a deep breath and play Hufflepuff exactly like you've been practicing out here. If we play like we've been practicing, then we'll blow Hufflepuff out of the water."

Diego laughed. "Hell yeah."

"Tomorrow," I continued, "just take a deep breath and remember the plays. Chasers, score as much as you can."

Diego whooped.

"Beaters, knock a Hufflepuff out," I continued.

The Beaters cheered.

"Michael," I said. "Don't let a Quaffle through."

He nodded. "Got it."

"And Jen," I said as I looked at my sister.

She smiled at me. "Yes, Captain?"

I grinned. "Get that Snitch."

She nodded. "No problem."

I clapped my hands together. "Okay, everyone. Make sure you get a lot of rest tonight and eat a good breakfast tomorrow morning. I'll see you in the locker room before the match."

Everyone stood up and began to go their separate ways.

Everyone except for Jen.

I looked at her and asked, "Well?"

She smiled as she pulled herself to her feet. "Remind me to bring a bit of parchment and a quill next time."

"Why's that?" I asked, confused as I shouldered my broom.

She shouldered hers and grinned. "If I'm going to be captain next year, I need to have that speech memorized."

I laughed as we began the walk to the castle. "So, it was good? Not too pushy or anything?"

"It was good," she approved.

"And don't say 'if'."

She looked at me and raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What?"

I stopped walking and faced her. "Don't say '_if_ I'm going to be captain next year'. You're _going_ to be captain. If you're not, I'll come and talk some sense into McGonagall."

"Now _that_ I'd like to see," she grinned and we started walking again.

"And I don't know if you'd need my speech," I said. "You should just sing."

She laughed. "Why?"

I shrugged. "You move people when you sing."

"I can't think of a song for that," she said, disagreeing.

"Make one up," I suggested. "Right now. Ready, go."

She laughed and then said, "Ummm….no, I've got nothing."

I sighed. "You're so hopeless."

"Um, thanks?"

"So, how are things with Hale?"

She looked at me. "Do you seriously want to know?"

"Yes."

She stopped walking. "As an overprotective brother or as a best friend?"

"Both," I told her with a small smile.

She smiled back. "Things are okay. He's sweet."

"Have you kissed him yet?" I asked.

She laughed. "I don't see how that's any of your business, but no, I haven't."

"Sirius is going to be so disappointed," I grinned and we continued walking. "He made a bet with Peter yesterday that you had already kissed him."

"What did Peter say?" she asked curiously.

"That you hadn't yet."

"How much did they bet?"

"Two Galleons," I replied and laughed. "Lucky for Peter."

"You didn't want in on the betting?"

I shook my head. "I don't really like to think about my sister kissing a guy. When you were dating Ernie, I always wondered but I never asked because I didn't want to picture that."

"I've kissed guys before, you know."

I stopped walking, shocked. "_Guys_? As in, more than one?"

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "Come on, James. We need to get back to the castle; it's getting dark."

I jogged to catch up with her. "Who? Who have you kissed?"

"You just said that you don't like to think about it," she said. "So I won't tell you. I'm doing you a favor."

"But it hasn't been a lot, right?" I asked her as we approached the castle. "I mean, not like…" _How many is too much?_

She stopped and faced me, smiling gently. "I'm not a slut, James. All I've ever done is kiss. I promise."

I breathed out, soothed a little bit. "I know that. I wasn't calling you a slut. I'm just…concerned."

She mussed my hair and laughed as she took off walking again. "One of these days, James, you're going to realize that I can take care of myself."

"Don't count on it."

We reached the portrait a few minutes later and I gave the password so that we could get in. The only ones there were Remus, Peter, and Sirius, who were on the floor by the fire. They all looked up when we came in.

"Hello, Potters," Sirius said with a lazy grin. "How was practice?"

"Fine," Jen answered.

"Good," I said. Then, I turned to Jen. "You need to get to bed and get a good night's rest."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm only going because I actually _am_ feeling pretty tired. Night, guys."

"Good night," Remus replied.

"Night," Peter said.

"See ya," Sirius responded.

Jen was at the base of the stairs to the girl's dorms when she stopped and turned around. "Oh, and Sirius?"

He looked up at her and smiled. "Yes, love?"

Jen's eyes twinkled. "You owe Peter two Galleons."


	16. Chapter 16

~Jen's POV~

"Jen?"

I pulled the covers up over my head and let out a moan.

"Jen," Beth said again and she shook me. "Come on, wake up."

"It's Saturday," I groaned.

"Right," she said. "The Saturday of the Hufflepuff match."

I bolted upright, eyes wide. "Am I late?"

She laughed. "No, you're not even close to being late. But you told me to always wake you up early on Quidditch match days so that you don't feel rushed and you can get a good breakfast in."

"Can I revoke that rule?" I asked as I began to sink back down. I had stayed up until almost three in the morning to finish all of my homework so that I wouldn't have to do it after the match or on Sunday.

She grabbed the covers and pulled them away. "No; not today. Come on; get up, take a shower, get dressed. And then we'll go down to breakfast."

With a sigh, I heaved myself out of bed and noticed that Emma, Kendra, and Cassie looked all nice and cozy under their covers, fast asleep. Resentful, I went and took a long shower, which woke me up in tiny degrees. After I was completely dried off, I pulled on the shorts and T-shirt that I would wear under my Quidditch uniform and then asked Beth to braid my hair off to the side so that I wouldn't have to worry about it flying all around my face and impacting my vision. After that was done, I pulled on my Quidditch robes and Beth and I headed to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Thanks for waking me up," I told her as we walked. "And sorry that I was so difficult about it."

She laughed. "It's okay, Jen. I get it. You were up pretty late working on all of those essays."

"Tell me about it," I muttered under my breath.

"So was James a nervous wreck last night?" she asked as we both hopped over the trick step.

I shook my head. "He wasn't too bad. I mean, he was nervous, but he hid it pretty well. And he'll calm down once the match starts."

"Hey, isn't that your parents?" she asked me.

I looked to where she had nodded and saw that my parents were, indeed, waiting just outside the entrance to the Great Hall. "Mum?" I asked as I approached. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

They both smiled at me and my dad answered as my Mum hugged me. "We thought we'd come watch Gryffindor's first match."

"That's nice," I said. "Does James know that you're here?"

"No," my mum said and smiled at Beth. "Hello, Beth."

"Hi, Mrs. Potter. Mr. Potter," she greeted and moved to walk past us. "I'm going to go ahead and have some breakfast."

My dad put his arm around my shoulders and guided me into the hall, where plenty of students were already eating breakfast. "You need to make sure you eat enough," he told me. "You need a big breakfast so that you'll perform your best."

I rolled my eyes. "You sound like James."

We sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table and they asked me about my classes and the professors and how I'd been doing. I told them about Professor Bauer and how great a teacher he was and I told them about how relieved I was that I didn't have to take N.E.W.T.s until the next year. I didn't tell them that James hadn't been studying for them, though. That was his business. James and I had made a pact before my first year of Hogwarts that we would never tell on each other.

I didn't have to wait long, though, because James came in with Sirius and Remus and Peter, all of them dressed and looking ready for the match. Mum and Dad stood and hugged all of the boys and then they all sat close to us. Mum immediately began on the questioning about school and such and I sat back and sipped at the coffee that I had decided that I desperately needed. The problem was, I just wasn't hungry. At all. And I knew that I needed to eat, but I couldn't.

James noticed.

He tossed three strawberry pastries onto my plate and pointed at them as if I hadn't seen them landing on my plate. "Eat."

In retaliation, I grabbed a handful of bacon and tossed it onto his empty plate. "You too, Captain."

He sighed and began to eat, so I did too.

My mum smiled. "It's so nice to see that you two look out for each other. Jen, what are you going to do next year when you'll be here by yourself?"

She made it sound like I would be the only student in Hogwarts, but I knew that she just meant 'without James'. "I don't know. Be happy, for once."

James rolled his eyes at me. "She'll cry. A lot. She'll probably write me letters everyday."

"Not a chance," I replied. "I'll have essays to write."

"Dear James," he continued, ignoring me. "I miss you so, so much. You are the best big brother ever and I wish you were back here to help me with-"

"A little overboard," I cut in.

He continued. "All of my class work. I hope you're doing well. All my love, Jen."

"Way too much," I cringed while everyone else laughed.

More and more people filed in and James' leg began to bounce up and down beneath the table. I ignored it and did my best to keep the conversation light, and everyone else was really helpful with that. Remus talked to my parents about his plans after school and Sirius, Peter, and I talked about a prank that some fifth year Ravenclaws had attempted and failed.

I finished laughing just as a hand came onto my shoulder. "Hey, Jen," Hale's voice said. "I just wanted to wish you luck in the match today."

I twisted around slightly so that I could see his face and I smiled at him. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"You too, James."

James looked at him and gave him a dismissive nod. "Thanks, but I don't need luck. I have skill."

I rolled my eyes. "I apologize for him. He has a huge head."

"Who's this, Jen?" my mother asked from across the table, her eyes on Hale.

Sirius smirked and I kicked him under the table. "This is Hale Jacobs. Hale, this is my mum and my dad. Hale is a prefect in Gryffindor with me."

They shook hands and it was going smoothly, and then Sirius said, "And they're dating. She left that part out."

I could feel my face flaming and I shot a glare at Sirius. He shrugged and acted innocent. "What? You did."

My mum just smiled and asked Hale to sit down. "What do your parents do?"

"They both work for the Ministry," he said. "My mum is an editor for _The Daily Prophet_ and my dad is an Unspeakable."

"An Unspeakable?" Peter said, thinking.

"They work in the Department of Mysteries," Remus supplied.

"And what do they specialize in?" Peter asked.

Sirius answered. "A lot of things. Mysterious things."

I rolled my eyes.

"So, what is it that you want to do after Hogwarts?" my dad asked and I noticed the way that he was examining Hale. He was almost as bad as James and I felt horrible. So, I just stared at my plate and tore apart a pastry. I just kept thinking about how my parents had never met Ernie and I thought that there had to be a reason for that. It wasn't that I was ashamed of Ernie or anything (well, I was _now_), but it was that Ernie and I had never really been serious, and I didn't want my parents to think that we were. And Hale and I weren't serious, either, but I was afraid that they would think that we were, since they were meeting him.

_Nice going, Sirius._ I made a mental note to come up with a clever prank later that could be used on him. Something embarrassing.

"I want to be a Healer," he said. "I've always had a thing for Herbology and I always found the medical aspect fascinating, so…"

"That's very ambitious," my mum smiled and I tore apart another pastry, even though I hadn't touched the first one. Next to me, James was paying absolutely no attention to the conversation. He was picking at his bacon and muttering softly to himself.

I nudged him and he looked over at me. "What?"

"We'll be fine," I whispered. "Stop worrying and eat."

He looked at my food pointedly. "Only if you do."

"Fine."

We both began to eat while Hale and my parents talked about school and Remus, Sirius, and Peter discussed the after party that would take place when Gryffindor beat Hufflepuff. They were making plans to disappear to Hogsmeade right after the match was over.

As I began to eat my pastry, I realized just how hungry I was. I finished every single pastry and then downed a glass of pumpkin juice before I felt full. It's amazing what nerves can do to you.

My mum had just asked me if the pastries were good when James' hand came onto my shoulder and he stood up. "It's time."

He looked nervous, so I smiled as I stood. "Yeah, I guess it is. See you all at the after party."

"Good luck," they all chorused and James and I left the hall together.


	17. Chapter 17

~James' POV~

They all sat before me, watching me, waiting for what I had to say. I was the captain and they were waiting for my encouraging words before the match. I took a deep breath and then said, "There's really nothing that I can say. You're all really good, we're a really good team, and we're going to go out there and beat Hufflepuff."

The team cheered and stood up. Then, they headed for the entrance, prepared to fly out. As Jen passed, I grabbed her arm and said, "Good luck."

"You too, Captain," she smiled and took her place.

The commentator announced everyone's last names as we flew out and I went out to the middle of the pitch, where the Hufflepuff captain was waiting with Madame Hooch. "Captains, shake hands," she said and we did.

"Mount your brooms!" She called. "On the whistle. Three… Two… One…" She blew the whistle and we were off, the Quaffle in my hands before I could even register it. I passed it off to Diego and the match had officially started.

Neil passed the Quaffle off to me and I headed for the posts, ready to score. A Hufflepuff Chaser came flying at me, but Jen flew interference just like she was supposed to and I scored.

"And Potter gets one in," the commentator said. "Ten points to Gryffindor!"

"Get that!" I shouted to Neil and pointed to the Hufflepuff Chaser that now had the Quaffle.

The wind picked up speed and I cursed inwardly. Wind wasn't my best friend, especially when I had to fly into it.

The Hufflepuff Chaser got by Neil and moved to attempt a goal, but Jen came from nowhere and cut him off, causing him to drop the Quaffle right into Diego's hands. "Wow! Jennifer Potter flies some awesome interference and the Quaffle is intercepted!"

"Why is Jen doing all of the work?" I shouted to my team before I took off to help Diego out. We scored again, which made the score twenty to zero. Gryffindors and Ravenclaws cheered, and Slytherins and Hufflepuffs booed. That's how it was in sports; everyone took sides. Even the teachers took sides, even though they always claimed that they didn't. But I wasn't fooled. Professor McGonagall, Professor Slughorn, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Sprout obviously sided with their houses. And Professor Bauer had told me good luck before I left class on Friday in a way that made me think that he was supporting Gryffindor. Or maybe he just didn't like Hufflepuff…

We scored again; thirty to zero.

"Keep it up!" I called.

A Bludger came at me on my next possession, but Drake beat it away just in time and hit it at the Hufflepuff Keeper just as I was throwing the Quaffle. While the Keeper was so preoccupied with saving the Quaffle, the Bludger hit him and sent him flying off of his broom and to the ground below. I looked at Drake and grinned. "Nice shot."

He saluted me with the bat and flew off to search for more people to knock out. "Drake Weston with a hard hit at the Hufflepuff Keeper. Doesn't look like he'll be getting up anytime soon." The Hufflepuff Chasers were flying with a newfound vengeance now that one of their players had been knocked out and we had to work twice as hard, which was fine with me. The harder, the better.

Jen saved our butts two more times and I called a timeout. All of my teammates landed on the ground, looking at me and wondering why I had paused the game when we were winning one hundred to zero.

"You guys are playing okay," I said. "But okay won't cut it during the Slytherin match. Jen, you're doing great flying interference and everything, but you need to catch the Snitch, okay? We just need to get this match over with."

Her eyes widened a bit, but she said nothing and nodded instead. "Okay."

"Everyone else, mount up," I said. "Jen, stay here."

They mounted up and got into the air and I approached my sister, who was fiddling with the end of her braid. "Jen, what is it? Is something wrong?" I thought that maybe she had gotten hit with a Bludger when I wasn't looking and she had a concussion or something. That wouldn't bode well; we didn't have a replacement Seeker.

She shook her head and when she spoke, she sounded frustrated. "No, it's just…"

"Just what?"

She looked at me and I could see how aggravated she was. "I can't find the Snitch, James! Not a glimpse!"

My eyes widened. "Are you serious?" That never happened. It always seemed like Jen always knew where the Snitch was and if she didn't, she could find it in only a couple of minutes.

She nodded. "The whole half hour that we've been playing, I've been watching. But nothing. It's really beginning to tear me up."

I put a hand against her cheek and smiled. "Don't worry about interference anymore, okay?"

She nodded.

"And don't stress," I told her. "It's fine. You'll catch it."

And as we both ascended into the air, I hoped that I was right.

~Jen's POV~

I felt like the worst Quidditch player ever. Catching the Snitch had never really been a problem, but all of a sudden, I couldn't find it. I hadn't caught a glimpse of it since it had been released. But, why? I'd tried every Seeker tactic that I could think of, but nothing helped. At first, I blamed it on the fact that I was so caught up in James' plan that I wasn't focused enough to see it. But, then, he told me just to focus on catching the Snitch. But how was I supposed to catch it if I couldn't even find it?

And then, a Bludger came out of nowhere and I barely rolled in time for it to miss my face. It still clipped my shoulder, though, and I gripped my arm and grit my teeth in retaliation to the sudden pain.

Kevin Weston flew past, bat at the ready. "Watch yourself, Jen!"

After a long breath, I tried to mentally assess the damage. It wasn't broken, but I thought that it might be a little out of place. Still, that was no reason to call off a match. I turned the broom and as I did, I caught a flash of gold and my heartbeat sped up. But, upon closer examination, I realized that it was just a gold watch that someone was wearing.

I let out a groan of frustration and muttered under my breath. "This shouldn't be hard. It's only Hufflepuff."

The wind picked up speed again, ruffling the few tendrils that floated around my face. I turned my broom in a full circle, scanning the area. The Snitch had to be around. It wasn't possible for it to just keep flying until it reached the North Pole. It was somewhere.

I flew around, trying to find it, but it was useless. I could feel the crowd watching me, too, which only made it worse. Why couldn't they just mind their own business and leave the Snitch to me?

"Jen!"

I turned my broom and saw Sirius waving to me from the crowd. I raised an eyebrow.

He cupped his hands around his mouth. "I think it's time that you catch the Snitch now!"

I shot him a look and flew off, still trying to find it. Another Bludger came at me, but Drake beat it away this time before it could even get really close. "Watch it, Jen!" he said just like his brother had done.

Frustrated, I dove in and stopped a Hufflepuff Chaser from making a goal. _That's it; I should have just been a Chaser. Then the whole entire game wouldn't depend on me. Plus, I play pretty good defense._

"Jen!" James yelled at me as Diego and Neil went rushing to the other end, the Quaffle flying between them. "I told you to look for the Snitch!"

"I am!" I shouted back and flew off before he could reprimand me anymore. Everyone was growing frustrated with me; even my brother.

I flew close to the stands, thinking that maybe the Snitch was using the crowds for cover. So, I looked among the faces, trying not to meet anyone's eyes because I knew what I would see there.

But, something drew my attention and I found myself looking into a pair of gray eyes much like Sirius'.

Regulus Black's.

But I didn't see hatred there or even annoyance at the fact that the match was still going on. I just saw something that I couldn't quite decipher, something that was unexpected.

The Slytherins closest to me began to shout insults.

He saw me looking and gave me a small nod.

Then, he pointed.

At first, I was confused, but then my heart began to beat faster and I turned my broom to look in the direction that he had pointed.

And there was the Snitch.

Adrenaline coursing through me, I leaned forward on my broom and shot forward, pursuing the Snitch.

"I think Jennifer Potter has spotted the Snitch!"

It dove and I did, too, my arm stretched out to catch it. A Bludger came but Drake swatted it away, and then the Snitch was in my hand and the crowd was cheering. As I descended to the ground, I looked to the place where Regulus had been sitting before, but he wasn't there among the booing Slytherins.

He was already gone.


	18. Chapter 18

~James' POV~

As soon as my sister landed on the ground, I swept her up into my arms and kissed her hair. "Brilliant catch, Jen! Brilliant!"

She uttered a response but I didn't quite catch it. We had won our first match and that's all that I really cared about. The team was all around me, cheering wildly as Gryffindor students ran towards us, surrounding us with a mass of yells and whistles and cheers. I relinquished Jen to our parents while I headed over to Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

"I didn't think Jen was ever going to catch the Snitch," Sirius said with a grin as he gave me a brotherly hug. "She was struggling."

I frowned. "I noticed. But, she caught it in the end, so it doesn't really matter. She'll do better next time."

"She's going to beat herself up about this," he noted.

I nodded and looked to my sister, who was conversing with Mum. "Yeah, she is. I'll have to have a talk with her. Make sure she knows that it wasn't her fault. Sometimes, that's how these things go."

"Even you've had an off day," Peter said. "That one time in fourth year-"

I cut him off by holding out my hand. "Peter, we're never to speak of that. Remember?"

He turned red. "Sorry."

And then, suddenly, Lily Evans stood a few feet away, smiling nervously and messing with the hem of her scarlet blouse. "Hey, James."

I used all of my willpower to smile and keep myself from gaping at how beautiful she looked with her hair flying behind her in the wind. "Hi, Lily. Did you enjoy the match?"

She looked at me with those green eyes and I wanted to melt. "Yes, I did. I just came to say that you did a very good job. You're a good captain."

_Did she just say that?_ I cleared my throat and kept my expression neutral. "Thank you very much. That means a lot."

She blushed slightly and then turned to go. "Guess I'll see you in the Common Room for the after party."

As she walked away, Sirius hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Merlin, I forgot all about the after party! Come on, mates; we have supplies to get. Later, James."

They took off and I watched them go, wishing I could travel through the passageway with them, but knowing that people would notice if _I_ went missing. So, I stayed with the Gryffindor crowd, celebrating the victory.

My parents pulled me aside right before they left and both hugged me. "You did a very good job, sweetheart," my Mum said.

"Thanks."

Dad shook my hand. "Don't let your sister beat herself up too badly about this." We both knew how hard she could be on herself.

"I won't," I told him solemnly.

"Write more often," my Mum commanded, shouting it over her shoulder.

I raised a hand in acknowledgement.

"You're not going to write more often," Jen said, suddenly appearing at my side.

I laughed and shook my head as I turned to face her. "No, I'm not. But she needs to say those things; she's a Mum."

Jen nodded and moved to walk away with the rest of the Gryffindor crowd, but I grabbed her arm. "Hold on a second."

She brushed a few wisps of hair out of her face. "What's up?"

I lowered my voice so that passing students wouldn't be able to hear what I had to say. "I don't want you to get too frustrated over the thing with the Snitch, okay?"

Her eyes widened a bit as if in surprise. "James-"

I cut her off. "No, I know that I was a little hard on you and I'm sorry. It's not your fault; everyone has off days. And you caught it, didn't you? We won. So it's okay."

"But, James-"

"Stop," I told her firmly. "I know how hard you can be on yourself and I don't want you beating yourself up over this. Got it? We won, in the end. And you caught the Snitch, not the other Seeker. Okay?"

"But-"

"No," I told her and then turned to walk towards the castle.

But when I looked for her a minute later, she was gone.

~Jen's POV~

The party was getting loud.

Well, parties that were planned by the Marauders always got a little loud, and this one was no different. People were running all over the place, chanting the score over and over again while they toasted with firewhiskey or butterbeer. Normally, firewhiskey was impossible to get in such large quantities without a good explanation, but Sirius could work wonders on that female owner.

I grabbed a butterbeer and retreated to a corner, trying my best to be invisible. All night, that's what I'd been trying to do. I just couldn't explain what had happened; how Regulus had helped me. Even when my roommates were commanding me to put on jeans and the purple blouse, even when they were curling my hair by magic and doing my makeup, I couldn't tell them or even explain it to myself. I didn't know how to.

Maybe I wouldn't know how to accept it until I understood _why_.

I sighed and took a large drink of the butterbeer, letting it warm me.

"Hey."

I jumped and put a hand over the place where my heart was beating frantically. "Don't do that, Remus!"

He leaned against the wall beside me and gestured to the party going on around us. "Sorry. It's loud in here; I had to shout."

I sighed and shook my head. "No; I shouldn't have snapped. I'm a little sensitive right now."

He raised an eyebrow as he swallowed a drink of his butterbeer. (Even though he was of age, he refused to drink.) "Why's that?"

I felt myself blush and looked away to where Peter was trying (and failing) to flirt with a girl. "It's nothing, really." But I knew that wouldn't work with Remus. He had a way of seeing into people.

He touched my arm gently. "Hey, it's not your fault, okay? Everyone has off days. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

"That's what James said," I rolled my eyes.

He smiled. "James is right, then. Just this once. But you caught it in the end, so does it really matter?"

_You_ caught it. What would he say if he knew that I'd had help? From Regulus, no less? I just sighed and nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

"Why do you sound like you don't believe it? We all saw you catch it."

_But no one saw the help that I got._ "I know. I have to go find Hale, okay?"

He looked confused but nodded anyway and I headed off through the crowd, just wanting to escape. I ran into a few people that wanted to talk to me on the way and by the time that I reached the girl's staircase, Hale was there, waiting. He flashed me a smile. "Remus said that you were looking for me."

_Damn him_. I forced myself to smile. "Oh, yeah. I was."

He walked towards me. "You did good in the match today."

My smile faltered. _No, I didn't._ "Thank you."

He gestured to the partying people behind me and said, "It's getting a little loud in here for me. Want to go for a walk or something?"

No, I didn't really want to go for a walk. I wanted to go up to my dorm, to my bed, and put a spell around myself so that I wouldn't have to hear the noise of the party below. I wanted to sleep until I could forget what had happened; how Regulus had helped me. Because now, I kind of felt like I owed him something, even though that's not really how it had to be if I didn't want it to be. But, I did kind of want to get away from the party, so I just nodded and said, "Yeah; that sounds good."

He took my hand (which I'm sure James wouldn't have approved of, had he seen) and weaved his way through the crowd, pulling me along behind him. And then, suddenly, we were through the portrait hole and away from the party, even though we could still hear it going on. Hale shot me a grin that made my heart flutter in a strange way. "Your brother and his friends sure know how to throw a party."

I smiled back at him as we walked down the empty corridor. "Yeah, they do."

"Where do they get all of the stuff?" he asked.

I grinned as I thought about the secret passageways that most students walked by on a daily basis and never even knew were there. "It's a secret."

He pulled me off down a side corridor. "A secret?"

I nodded. "A very heavily guarded secret. Only a few privileged people are allowed to know."

He laughed. "And you, being James' little sister, are allowed to know?"

I stopped walking and faced him. "It's not just because I'm James' little sister, you know. I'm my own person, too. I'm good at things that he could never even dream at being good at and I could give him the duel of his life, if I wanted to."

Hale smiled and reached out to brush the bangs away from my face, causing my breath to catch in my throat. He leaned in and whispered, "I have no doubt that you could."

"Kiss me," I whispered in a voice that I was almost sure wasn't my own.

And he did.


	19. Chapter 19

~Jen's POV~

When I woke up the next morning, I thought that it was all a dream. But I knew that it hadn't been. The kiss had just been too real for it to be a dream. Hale and I had stayed like that for a while out in the corridor – his arms around me, mine around him, our lips locked together – for close to half an hour. After we'd separated for good, my lips had felt tingly and swollen and my heart felt like it was planning to beat right out of my chest. But it felt good.

He'd smiled at me and walked me back to the common room, where the party was still going on. He'd kissed me on the cheek before I'd ascended the stairs, and then I had given my roommates all of the details and we'd squealed about it until dawn. Now, I was the only one awake while the rest of them were burrowed under their covers, ready to sleep half the day away.

But I had things to do.

I got out of bed and took a shower first, and then dried myself off and pulled on jeans and a light blue sweater. I cast a spell to make my hair straight and glossy and then I applied light makeup, just a little bit of eyeshadow and some mascara. Then, I grabbed my bag and headed down the stairs with the intent of going to the library. I had two essays to do, one for Charms and one for Transfiguration. The Charms one was going to be easy, but the one for Transfiguration was going to test my patience, I was sure of it.

"Where you off to Jennie?"

I turned and saw Sirius by the fire, holding an empty bottle of Firewhiskey and grinning like an idiot. A _drunken_ idiot. But, I couldn't help but smile at the purplish mark on his neck. "The library," I said. "And I've told you a million times not to call me Jennie. Now, where's James?"

Sirius shrugged and then laughed as if he'd told a very clever joke. "He went off last night with Evans."

I raised an eyebrow. "No, seriously."

He nodded. "Seriously. They talked for a while in that corner over there." He pointed. "And then I think he went to bed."

I sighed. "Why don't you go up and get him? Tell him to take you to the Hospital Wing for a hangover potion."

He shook his head vigorously, his shaggy hair flying about. "No way. She'll report me, she will. Can't you just make one like you did for me last year?"

"Sirius, the only reason I had some last year was because I wanted extra practice for the Potions exam and I had some handy that night. It takes a few hours to make properly."

He frowned. "Please?"

I shook my head. "You should learn to be more sober at these parties. Control your drinking."

He leaned back against the wall. "Help me."

I groaned in frustration. "I'll go find-"

"I'm here," Remus said and he suddenly was there, at the bottom of the steps to the boys' dorms. He gave me a smile and walked towards Sirius. "I'll take him from here; looks like you've got homework to do."

I groaned. "I'd rather be dealing with Sirius."

Remus heaved Sirius to his feet and gave me a look. "That bad, huh?"

I nodded. "That bad."

He smiled. "Good luck."

"You too," I replied and headed for the exit. He was going to need it just as much as I was.

When I reached the library, Madame Prince immediately offered her help. I almost took it, but the library was empty and quiet (because no students liked to use it on a Sunday morning except for the brains) and I had all day. So, I declined and moved to my usual table to dump my stuff off while I looked for the books that I would need.

I found a few for the Charms essay (which I had decided to do first to get the easy one out of the way) and then set to work. The first few paragraphs were far too easy, the middle paragraphs kind of hard, and my conclusion was fairly easy. I was done in about an hour and I re-read it to look for mistakes and only found a couple. Proud of myself, I rolled the parchment up, put a spell on it so that nothing could happen to it, and then put it into my bag.

"Transfiguration," I said with a groan as I got out a blank sheet of parchment. "Joy." Then, I went to put the Charms books up and search for the one I would need for Transfiguration. It took me nearly half an hour to track down the last book and by the time that I got back to the table, I was frustrated. So imagine how I felt when I realized that I had grabbed the wrong book.

But I froze when I got to the aisle that the book had come from.

Because Regulus Black was there, pulling a book out of the shelf.

Regulus Black.

The one that had saved me during the match.

He wore jeans and a navy blue T-shirt that somehow suited his sculpted, lean body. His hair was cropped extremely short, but it was still messy. And he had an air about him…

I cleared my throat and walked forward to put the book up.

"Hi," he said, clearly surprised to see me. So, he wasn't stalking me. But I still didn't feel any better. "I didn't think anyone else was in here."

"That's what I thought," I said, not wanting to be rude. Not that I cared what he thought about me, but I'd been raised with manners and I wasn't going to let a Slytherin make me abandon them.

He chuckled as I put the book up. "I guess we're camped out on opposite ends. What are you working on?"

"Transfiguration," I said as I pulled out the book that I needed. "I just finished Charms."

I was turning to walk away when he grabbed my arm, making me tense. I was ready for a fight until I realized that I hadn't brought my wand with me. Inwardly cursing myself, I looked at him, hoping that I was giving him my deadliest glare.

If I was, though, it didn't faze him. He shook his head and pointed at the book as he released my arm. "That book won't help you at all. I tried it. It takes you all over the place but never gives you anything solid. If you really want a good book…" He walked a few steps away, ran his finger along a row of spines, and then pulled a thick, leather-bound volume out and walked back over to me, holding it out. "Try this," he told me as I took it. "It was really helpful to me. Particularly pages one-hundred and six through two-hundred."

I just looked at him in confusion as he took the other book from my hands and put it back in its proper place on the shelf. When he straightened and saw my confused look, he raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Why are you helping me?" I asked.

He shrugged and gestured to the book. "It's just a book. If someone saw me picking out the wrong book, I'd want them to help me so that I don't have to spend hours searching for-"

"No," I shook my head. "I mean, in general."

He knew what I meant. He knew that I was really asking him why he had pointed out the Snitch to me. Because he really didn't have to. He could have pointed it out to the Hufflepuff Seeker. And, that's kind of what I would have expected him to do. Slytherins hated Gryffindor, so why hadn't he helped Hufflepuff win?

He shrugged his shoulders as he looked at me and it was then that I noticed that he really wasn't ugly. Most purebloods let their hair grow too long because that's how it had always been done, but I didn't like long hair. Regulus' was short, and besides that, he didn't have that 'I'm too good for you' pureblood look. He was handsome; maybe not as handsome as Sirius, but handsome just the same.

_Why are you thinking like that?_ I reprimanded myself. _Nothing about Regulus Black is attractive. Nothing._

"I'm waiting for an answer," I told him, wanting to sound hard even though my voice came out softly.

He looked at me as if he were trying to telepathically tell me, and then he looked away. "Everyone could use help every now and then."

"I don't need help from you," I told him.

He looked at me and I expected him to taunt me, but he didn't. I expected an insult, but none came. I expected a sneer, but there was none. Instead, he just nodded his head. "Okay; I'm sorry." And then, he turned and walked away, disappearing around the corner.

I leaned against the bookshelf for support as my head spun from everything going through it. Was Regulus Black really a nice person? I mean, I'd known that Slytherin had to have some nice people, but I'd never thought in a million years that Sirius' brother would be one of them.

Head still spinning from all of these thoughts, I headed back to my table to work on the essay and (hopefully) get my mind off of thoughts of Regulus Black.


	20. Chapter 20

~Jen's POV~

"I kind of wish that I had dropped Defense," Beth groaned as we headed to class, laden with our book bags.

"Don't say that," I reprimanded her. "You're good at Defense."

"I failed the last test!"

"Because you were up all night talking to that Hufflepuff boy!"

She looked at me with her mouth wide open in shock.

"Yes, I know about him!" I told her, rolling my eyes. "I belong to the infamous group of pranksters. Of course I know."

She smiled shyly. "He's really a nice guy. And he-"

"I'm sure he is," I cut her off and then stopped in front of a group of fourth year Slytherins. "Oi! Firewhiskey isn't allowed on these grounds and you're much too young to be drinking it anyway. And if you were planning to drink it, you shouldn't have flaunted it in your small little group in the corridor. Hand it over."

The tallest male of the group looked at me with a sour expression and held out the bottle. I took it and shooed them away. "Go on now, time for class."

Beth smiled at me and tossed her blonde hair over one shoulder. "You're such a good prefect. Are you going to turn that in to Professor Dumbledore?"

We continued walking and I stuffed the bottle into my bag. "No, of course not. I'm sure that James or Sirius would enjoy this."

She rolled her eyes but smiled. "Why don't you just drink it yourself? You're the one that found it."

I made a face. "I'm not really a huge fan of Firewhiskey, actually. Sirius made me try it once and I thought that my throat was going to burst into flames and kill me. I couldn't breathe for a full two minutes. Nope, not for me."

She shrugged and we greeted Professor Bauer on our way into the class. "Wonder what the lesson will be today."

I shrugged. "No clue. We've been jumping all over the place. I don't even know why he had us buy a textbook; we don't ever use it except for the one essay that he's had us write."

"You like reading," she said as she sat. "I figured you wouldn't mind having an extra book around to read on a rainy day."

"I've already read it," I replied. "Over the summer."

"How did you have time?" she asked me. "What with all of the Quidditch practice and singing that song."

I smiled and took my wand out from the inner pocket of my robes. "In bed, mostly. Quidditch during the early mornings, most afternoons, and late evenings. Singing when I was in the shower or during Quidditch breaks."

"I'd love to have your time management skills," she said thoughtfully. "Or your dedication. Whichever you feel like forking over."

I opened my mouth to speak, but Professor Bauer walked into the room and conversation stopped. He strolled to the front and faced us with a smile. "Good morning, class."

"Good morning," we all replied.

"Today, we will be learning about Patronuses. Who can tell me what a Patronus is?"

A few people raised their hands.

He pointed. "Yes, Ms. Mendoza?"

Mary squeaked out, "It's an anti-dementor. Like a shield. It has no emotions so the dementor doesn't have anything to feed on."

"Ten points to Gryffindor," he said. "Can anybody tell me the incantation to conjure up a Patronus? How about you, Mr. Black?"

I looked over to see Regulus sitting up a little straighter in his chair to answer, "_Expecto Patronum_."

"Ten points to Slytherin. Now, it is not enough to simply say the incantation. Can anybody tell me what else you need to do?"

It was silent.

Beth nudged me.

I gave her a look.

"Ms. Potter? I'm sure you know."

I sighed. "You have to think a happy thought. Otherwise, the spell won't be powerful enough."

"Ten points, Ms. Potter. And would you mid telling us what a Patronus looks like?"

"Each one is unique to the witch or wizard that conjures it," I answered, thinking of my own Patronus, which was a wolf like my animagus form.

He smiled at me. "Very good. Ten points to Gryffindor. Now, I want everyone to close their eyes and picture your good memory. Something powerful. Allow it to fill you up."

When I closed my eyes, I saw myself flying and reaching for the Snitch. Quidditch made me happy.

"Okay, now stand up and spread out. On the count of three, you will release your Patronus. Most of yours will not be fully formed; some will not come out at all. Do not be discourages, ladies and gentlemen, this is highly advanced magic."

When everyone was sufficiently spread out, he clapped his hands together. "Wands at the ready."

Everybody raised their wands so that they wouldn't be pointing them directly at someone.

"On my count," he said. "One."

I concentrated on how it felt to be defying gravity, to feel the wind whipping my hair and the sun on my face.

"Two."

To feel my fingers close around the little golden Snitch and know that the game was won.

"Three."

"_Expecto Patronum!_" I shouted and instantly, I felt my wand vibrate as something silver shot out of it. My wolf headed for the door, beautiful and majestic.

The class stopped to gasp and stare, awed.

And that's when I realized that I hadn't been the only one.

Towards the back wall, a silver raven the same hue as my wolf was disappearing into the wall.

I followed the line until I saw the caster.

Regulus Black.

~James' POV~

"We could flood all of the bathrooms," Peter suggested, completely enthused.

I shook my head. "We did that first year."

"Oh, yeah," he mumbled.

"Exploding food?" Sirius asked.

"Third year, remember?" I asked him. "The cake that was set to explode in the Slytherin common room."

He smiled. "Oh, yeah. I remember now. The one decorated in red and gold that said 'Gryffindor Won'."

"How about we quit talking about this nonsense and maybe go to the library to get some books to use for our Potions report?" Remus asked, ever the responsible one.

I smiled at him. "Oh, come off it, Moony. You were in on all of these pranks just the same as us and you know you loved every second of it. Anyway, just tell us what books you'll be needing to write our essays and we'll gladly send a first year to get them for you."

He let out a sigh.

"What about animals?" Sirius asked. "We could let some animals loose in some part of the castle."

"What type of animal, though?" I asked. "It has to be something really gross."

"Grub worms," Peter said.

"Hippogriffs!" Sirius gleefully insisted.

"Where are we going to find a herd of Hippogriffs, Sirius?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. The Forrest, maybe?"

I shook my head. "I dunno. It'd be awful hard to pull that off. But if you want to go strolling through the Forbidden Forrest, I say go for it."

"We could go during the full moon," he suggested. "We'd have a werewolf with us then. Nothing would touch us."

"Shh! Not so loud!" Remus said, looking around nervously.

I was about to say something, but my train of thought was completely interrupted as I spotted Lily Evans coming down the hall, her long red hair flowing out behind her like a banner.

"Lily's coming," I said and stopped in my tracks.

"Quit drooling, then," Sirius said and grinned. "Act like you have manners. You did a good job of it the other day."

"I'm not sticking around for this embarrassment," Remus said and began to walk away. "I'm going to the library. Peter, come on."

Peter hesitated only a split second before he followed Remus down the corridor. Sirius clapped my shoulder. "Yeah, I should really be working on my essay, too."

Lily was getting closer.

"Since when do you work on essays?" I hissed under my breath.

He chuckled. "Good luck, mate."

Soon, he was gone and Lily was standing right in front of me, her delicious scent making it extremely difficult to get a breath. She gave me a smile that made my heart stop and said, "Hi, James."

Luckily, my voice didn't betray anything that I was feeling. "Hello, Lily. Having a nice day?"

She seemed surprised. "Yes, I am. Um, do you have a moment to talk?"

I nodded my head. "Of course." _For you, I have all of the time in the world._

She smiled again and began to speak in her soothing voice. I'd always thought that she would make an excellent teacher. "Well, there have been reports that a young Hufflepuff boy is being harassed by a group of Slytherins. Dumbledore wrote me and asked me to tell you that he would like us both to be paying extra attention and to be making extra patrols."

I nodded. "I think that sounds like a wonderful idea. I'll start immediately."

She nodded and said, "He said it would probably be a good idea to alert the prefects, too, though obviously not the ones from Slytherin."

"I'll tell Remus and my sister immediately," I nodded. "And I'll alert the rest as I see them come into the common room tonight."

"Okay. I've already told most of the Hufflepuff prefects, so all we have to worry about it Ravenclaw."

"I can talk to them," I insisted.

She smiled at me. "That would actually be great, James. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Lily." _Don't ask her out. Don't ask her out. Don't ask her out. _


	21. Chapter 21

~Jen's POV~

Luckily, my roommates let me dress myself for the next Hogsmeade date. I picked jeans and a pale pink sweater, which they went nuts over. Emma insisted on curling my hair and Kendra wanted to do my makeup. I only let them because I really didn't feel like doing it myself. Over the past week, I'd found myself thinking of Regulus Black more than I approved of. They weren't thoughts of desire, though; they were simply thoughts of confusion. I still didn't understand how he could be so nice to me. I'd always thought that he was part of that group that James and Sirius insisted were Death Eaters.

"All done!"

I stood up from the chair and looked at myself in the mirror. "Oh, thanks, guys. I look nice."

"_Nice_?" Emma said as if I were crazy. "You look _amazing_!"

I rolled my eyes and slipped on a light jacket. Fall was in full swing, and it was getting chillier and chillier every day. "Okay. Are you guys all coming to Hogsmeade?"

"Yes," Kendra answered.

Beth gave me a sly smile. "But don't worry; we won't be following you. That's James' and Sirius' job."

"James and Sirius followed you on your last date?" Cassie asked, surprised.

"Yeah," I answered. "Hale didn't see them, but I did."

"Are you really surprised?" Emma asked as she pulled on a purple blouse. "With them being the overprotective brothers that they are."

"True," Cassie agreed.

I vaguely wondered what those overprotective brothers would do if they found out that I kept running into Regulus. He'd never threatened me in any way, but they would probably feel that him being around was threat enough. I was surprised that they hadn't ever seen us in the same vicinity on the map, but then I remembered that it wasn't as though they checked the map every minute. Usually, they only checked it when they were sneaking out or when they were staking out a future target for a prank.

"I'll see you guys later," I said abruptly and moved to leave the room.

"Later!"

"Have fun!"

"Don't mess up your hair!"

"Tell your brother we said hi!"

I rolled my eyes and shut the door behind me before I headed down the stairs. When I reached the common room, I found that the Marauders were all sitting down close to the fire, dressed and ready for Hogsmeade. "Hey, guys."

"Hey."

"Hi, Jen."

"Hey."

"You look nice," Sirius said with a teasing grin. "Is that all for Hale?"

James looked me up and down. "Those jeans are too tight."

"Is that a fat joke?"

He gave me a look. "I'm serious."

"They're _supposed_ to be tight, James," I informed him. "That's the way that they're made to fit. They're supposed to show off long, lean legs."

"Well, they show them off a little _too_ much," he told me. "Go change."

I rolled my eyes. "Not a chance. You may follow me on dates and I know there's nothing I can do about it, but you can't make me change my outfit."

He didn't look too happy. "Guys' minds are always in the gutter, Jen. Take Sirius, for example. If he were going on a date with a girl dressed in those kind of jeans, he'd want to jump her bones."

"And he would," I finished. "Because he's Sirius. But Hale isn't half as licentious as Sirius is. He's never done anything inappropriate."

"Except for making out with you in the corridors!"

For a moment, I just stood there. Then, I asked, "How in the world do you know about that?"

"It was during the after party," he said. "I came to check on you to make sure that you weren't still beating yourself up about the Snitch thing, but I couldn't find you. Then, I ran into Remus and he said you'd been looking for Hale."

I looked at Remus.

He raised his hands in surrender. "I had no idea that he was going to go looking for you. I thought he just wanted to know where you were."

I looked back at James. "Continue."

"So," he said. "I checked the map. And I saw that you and Hale were together in a corridor, completely motionless. What else would two motionless people be doing in a corridor after having escaped from a party where they'd both probably had a little bit to drink?"

"First of all," I said. "Neither of us had anything to drink. Secondly, maybe we were just sitting on the floor of the corridor, talking. Did you ever think of that?"

"That's what I said!" Remus put in.

"And it would be plausible," James said. "If your face hadn't turned so red when I first mentioned you kissing him in the corridors."

I glanced at the clock on the wall. "I'm going to be late. I'm meeting him down by the doors."

"Yeah," James said as he stood up. "Come on, guys. We're going to be late for Jen's date."

I let out a frustrated sigh. "You don't need to come on this date, James. What is it you think he's going to do?"

"I don't know," he answered as he moved for the portrait hole. "And that's what bothers me."

Sirius turned back to look at me. "Oh, and make sure you two go into Honeydukes. I need some more chocolate."

When I reached Hale at the doors, I saw the Marauders all standing several yards away, ready to follow. I groaned.

"What?" Hale asked.

"My brother."

He raised an eyebrow. "What about him?"

We began to walk towards the small village. "He knows that we kissed."

"You mean, made out," he corrected me with a smile that made me blush.

"Whatever," I said. "Anyway, now he's watching us. Him and his friends are following behind us."

He linked his hand with mine. "Oh."

I looked down at our locked hands. "Are you crazy? You think this is good news?"

He nodded. "Actually, I do. Jen, think about it; he knows that we kissed after that party last week and he didn't even say anything about it until _today_. He didn't hunt me down during the week and try to prank me or threaten me. He may not like it, but he's okay with it."

I considered his words and then nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Hmm…weird. I've never known James to really approve of any guy that I've wanted to date."

"Well, I'm not sure that he actually approves of me, but it's a start."

"A start," I agreed. "Oh, and we need to stop at Honeydukes."

"Why's that?"

"Sirius needs some chocolate."

~James' POV~

"I can _not_ believe that he had the nerve to hold her hand in front of me!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "James, maybe he didn't know you were following him. Because you _shouldn't _be."

I took another long drink of my butterbeer. "I don't like seeing them together."

"I think it's going to be like that no matter _who_ she decides to date," Sirius told me. "You're her brother; you're always going to feel the need to protect her."

Peter came back and took off the Invisibility Cloak. "They're still just talking about school stuff."

"You sure they're not talking about sneaking off somewhere to be alone?"

Remus reached over to smack me upside the head. "James, come on. She's you sister. You know her better than that. She's not the kind of girl that would give her virginity away to just anyone."

"But guys can be smooth talkers!" I argued, gesturing to Sirius. "Look at him!"

Sirius gave a small wave and then took the Invisibility Cloak from Peter. "Is it my turn to make the round?"

"Yeah," I agreed.

"I can't believe you all are going along with this," Remus said to Peter and Sirius.

Sirius disappeared, but his voice said, "She's my sister too, Moony."

As soon as he patted my shoulder as he passed me, I stood up. "I'm going to go and get us some more butterbeers."

"I don't want one," Remus said as he looked down at his book.

"I do," Peter said.

"Got it."

I passed Diego at one of the tables and stopped to talk to him a little bit about the upcoming Ravenclaw match. He and I were both still seething Slytherin was going to make it to the finals. We had wanted Ravenclaw to beat them. We talked strategy for a few minutes, and then I headed off to get the butterbeers.

Right as I said, "Two butterbeers," someone else said, "One butterbeer."

We both stopped and looked at each other.

It was Lily Evans.

I looked at the waitress taking orders at the counter and said, "Two butterbeers, please."

Lily looked at me and I saw her blush. "You don't have to buy me a butterbeer, James."

It had actually been for Peter, but buying her one didn't seem like a bad idea. He could do without. "It's okay, Lily. I want to."

I paid for the butterbeers and then asked her, "Do you want to come and sit down with me?"

"With your friends?" she asked.

That wouldn't do. I pointed to an empty table. "Or over there."

She looked at me and smiled. "Sure, James."

I had to really focus to keep my mouth from falling open. She had just agreed to sit with me and have a butterbeer. It felt like my whole entire world had just shifted.

But, I kept calm as I pulled her chair out for her and then sat across from her.

And we had our butterbeers while we talked.


	22. Chapter 22

~James' POV~

I hadn't returned to sit with the rest of the Marauders. I mean, sure, I was interested in what was happening on Jen's date, but I was more concerned with Lily. We went though several butterbeers each and talked about anything and everything. She was a very charming girl (which I had already known) and I hadn't ever wanted her to stop talking. Finally, though, she had told me that she needed to get back to the castle because she had an important essay to finish writing. She surprised me when she let me walk her back.

The Marauders were waiting for me in the nearly deserted common room when I walked back after having dropped Lily off at the library.

Sirius spoke first, a teasing grin on his face. "Well, well, well. Look who it is. So, you get us all on board to spy on your sister and then you just go running off to do your own thing? I mean, we're not your _slaves_, Prongs."

I rolled my eyes at him as I plopped down next to him on the couch. Peter and Remus were on the floor, sitting across a chessboard from each other. I had no idea why Peter would offer to play Remus again; Remus had only beaten him _every single time_ that they'd played in the past. I mean, sure, Peter was my friend and everything, but I could readily admit that he wasn't exactly what one would consider _smart_. "Well, I hope you have something to report back to me."

Peter spoke up, though he kept his eyes on the board, trying to figure out what his next move should be (even though he was obviously going to lose). "Actually, Sirius said that we should just go, since you were busy."

I was shocked. "You just left her and Hale alone?!" Already, images were forming in my mind. Images of Hale and Jen sneaking off somewhere to be alone… articles of clothing hitting the floor… Oh, Merlin. What if he used her and then dumped her? What if she ended up pregnant? What if…?

"James!" Sirius said, snapping my attention back to the real world and away from my scenarios. "It's not like we took them to a private room and gave them a condom."

I flinched.

Sirius clapped his hand on my shoulder. "Besides, James, Jen is a smart girl. I'm sure she wouldn't do something like that without knowing for sure that she was ready." When I opened my mouth to speak, he added, "No matter how good of a smooth talker Hale might be."

I relaxed a little bit. "But, seriously, did you see anything? I mean, was there hand holding or kissing or-"

"I don't see how that's any of your business?"

My head whipped around of its own accord and I saw Jen standing a few feet away, hands on her hips, a teasing smile gracing her lips. When I looked at her, I was saddened as I realized just how much she had grown up. She was no longer the little girl that had begged to be allowed to play with me. Her hair was curled, she wore makeup, and she had somehow magically turned into a young woman.

I snapped out of it fairly quickly. "Was there hand holding? Or kissing?"

She rolled her eyes and moved around me just as Remus said, "Check mate. Game over, Peter."

Peter sighed. There was really no room for disappointment; he had known that he would lose.

"Better luck next time," Remus told him and then looked hopefully at Jen. "Fancy a game?"

"Sure," she said and moved to take Peter's place as Peter mumbled something about needing to work on homework and scurried up the staircase to the boys' dorms.

"You never answered my question," I told her, getting suspicious.

She made her first move. "If I answer your question, will you answer one of mine?"

I leaned forward slightly, resting my elbows on my knees. "Yes."

"Then, yes," she said. "And what were you doing with Lily Evans?"

My mouth dropped open. "Yes to the hand holding or yes to the kissing?" I demanded.

"You have to answer my question," she said and narrowed her eyes when Remus made a move. That was something she'd done for as long as I could remember – whenever she was trying to figure something out, her eyes would narrow almost as if of their own accord.

I sighed. "I ran into Lily while I was going to get some more butterbeer. I invited her to sit down and talk with me and she did. And then I walked her back to the library afterwards. Now, did you kiss Hale?"

"I've kissed Hale before," she said with a shrug. "Knight to E5. It's not a big deal anymore. So, what did you and Lily talk about?"

It's like we were playing a game of interrogation. "A bunch of different stuff. School, hobbies, parents, siblings, pets…"

"Wow," she said. "Sounds like fun. Are you two going out again?"

"I haven't asked her," I admitted. "But, she seemed really interested in me."

"Because you've deflated your head just the tiniest bit," Jen said with a small laugh. "You should go for it, James. But be sure that you act the same way that you acted today when you ask her out, seeing as how she seemed to like that side of you."

I looked over at Sirius, who was completely enthralled in the chess game. "You alright, mate? You haven't said anything for the past five minutes."

He didn't take his eyes off of the board. "I just always enjoy seeing Remus get beat at something, seeing as how he's the best at everything."

Remus made a move and then glared at Sirius. "For the record, you have no idea if I'm going to lose or not. Jen and I are very well matched. It could go either way."

"Sure," Sirius said with a roll of my eyes. He shot a wink at me and then looked back at the board.

"So," I said, directed towards Jen. "You two did kiss?"

"We've kissed before James," she said, exasperated. "I thought you already knew this."

"I did," I admitted and winced. "I just don't like to think about it. You two haven't…" Merlin, I really didn't want to say it, but I needed to know. I was her brother, after all, and if she had, I was going to tear Hale apart limb by limb. Maybe I would even invent a new spell specifically to torture him. Sirius would help me, no doubt.

Jen leveled me with a look. "James, I understand that you're my big brother and that you want to protect me, but you honestly just need to chill. I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself."

That felt like a slap in the face. "Merlin's beard!" I exclaimed. "You have!"

She made a sound of frustration. "No, James, I haven't! I just don't like you following me around on dates and interrogating me every time that you see me walking with him. He's my boyfriend, he's a good guy, and you really just need to learn how to get over it."

Sirius and Remus both had to cough to cover up their laughs. And they had every right to laugh, too. Jen was younger than me, but she certainly knew how to put me in my place. She could put anyone in their place, actually; I'd always thought that she'd be an excellent mum.

"Sorry," I muttered, looking down at my lap.

"Thank you," she said and then commanded her bishop on where to go next. "I appreciate the apology. Have you scheduled the next Quidditch practice yet?"

Sirius, Jen, and I talked about Quidditch – how the matches had been going, who was favorited to win the Cup, which players we needed to look out for, when would be the best time to schedule the next practice – while Remus stared at the chessboard, muttering to himself as he tried to figure out how he was going to go about beating Jen. I thought that it was very funny that Remus had to try so hard while Jen simply made moves when it was her turn and didn't worry about a thing. She'd always been the Queen of Strategy, though.

Finally, after the Quidditch talk had died out, I asked, "You really think Lily will give me a chance?"

Jen smiled over at me. "Yeah, James, I really think that she will. From what I saw, and what you've told me, I think she's seeing the sweet side of you and that she likes it. Just remember to deflate your head and be charming."

Sirius snorted. "A Christmas miracle, no doubt."

I elbowed him. "Why don't you go help Peter with his homework or something?"

He made a face. "I don't do homework."

Jen sighed and pulled herself up into a sitting position. "Well, I do, and I have to put some finishing touches on an essay for Slughorn." She stood up and took a few steps away, and then turned back, a surprised look on her face. "Oh, I almost forgot." She waved her wand and the desired piece on the chessboard moved for her.

She gave Remus a sweet smile. "Checkmate."

And then she disappeared up the stairs while Sirius fell onto the floor, laughing.


	23. Chapter 23

~Jen's POV~

"I mean, I just don't think that she really knows what she's talking about," Hale said as we wove through a group of first years. "She probably sits in her office making up a bunch of- Hey, where are you going?"

I laughed as I pulled my hand out of his and adjusted the shoulder strap of my bag. "I told you, Hale, I have choir practice."

"Oh, yeah," he said, remembering. "That whole thing with the duet. How's that going?"

I shook my head. "Let's not talk about it."

He kissed my forehead. "You'll do great, even if your partner doesn't. I'm sure that you'll be able to beat Beauxbatons no problem."

"You have to say that," I said with a laugh. "You're my boyfriend."

His eyes lit up when I said that word, just as they always did. It was like he still couldn't believe that we were dating, which only confirmed my roommates opinions that he'd been after me for a long time. I knew what it felt like to long for something for so long and then to have it. It was amazing. "Well, even if I wasn't your boyfriend, you'd be an amazing singer."

"That's not all that duets are about," I said, having to raise my voice slightly because a group of loud Slytherins was passing by. "You have to be in synch with your partner. Duets are hard."

"It'll be okay," he assured me and then leaned in to kiss me.

I kissed him back and then pulled away reluctantly a few seconds later. "I really have to go; I don't want to be late."

He smiled at me and nodded. "Okay. I'll see you in the common room later."

"Later," I agreed and then whirled around and began to walk quickly away. In no time at all, I had reached the choir room and I was a bit surprised at who I found waiting for me there. Standing beside Professor Flitwick was Skylar Lane, apparently the guy that would be singing the duet with me.

Don't get me wrong – Skylar is a good guy and I like him. The hat had barely rested on his head when it had declared him a Ravenclaw, and he was in my year. Girls liked him for his dark eyes and his dimples. Guys hated him for his adamant hatred of Quidditch. He'd only joined choir a few years earlier, but he was a pretty good singer. Probably one of the best among the guys.

But I just couldn't see me singing the duet with him.

"Good, you're here," Professor Flitwick said as soon as I came in. "You two know each other, correct?"

Most of the students at Hogwarts that were in the same year knew each other. Plus, when you're a Marauder, you pretty much know everything about everyone. "Yes," I said.

Skylar nodded and gave me a small smile that I returned.

"Good," Flitwick said and took his seat at the front of the room. "Jen, you're the one with the most choir experience here, so you can dictate what you two work on. I'll just be up here as a mediator of sorts."

_Fantastic_. I sighed and asked Skylar, "Have you been trying to work on this at all?"

He nodded. "I've learned all of the words."

Well, that was a start. "Okay. Let's start with some harmonizing notes so that we can get used to blending our voices."

He nodded again and we sat down facing each other while Professor Flitwick called out notes for us to try. Skylar was a good singer, but I ended up being the one that did most of the adjusting. A couple of times, I tried to remind Skylar that he needed to adjust as well, and I genuinely think he tried, but he just didn't have the ear training that I had. In the duet, I was going to have to adjust all of my notes so that it would sound okay.

Finally, I decided to just get started on the actual song, since we were getting nowhere on the adjustment ear training.

The music began and I started in on my part. "I hear the ticking of the clock; I'm lying here, the room's pitch dark. I wonder where you are tonight, no answer on the telephone. And the night goes by so very slow. Oh, I hope that it won't end, though… Alone."

The chorus began and I raised my voice to match the music. "'Til now, I always got by on my own."

Skylar joined in with me. "I never really cared until I met you. And now it chills me to the bone. How do I get you alone? How do I get you alone?"

He began to sing his part while I was cringing on the inside. We hadn't sounded awful during our combined part, but we hadn't sounded great, either. There was only so much adjusting that I could do; he was going to have to learn how to give a little too. Duets were a challenge because of the chemistry that you need between the two people that are singing. They have to know each other's voices and where their voice needs to be to meet the other person halfway. Skylar hadn't learned that yet, and even though we had time, I wondered if he would ever be able to learn it.

I hate to say it, but I was grateful when the song ended. Then, I took the unpleasant job of telling Skylar that he really needed to learn to adjust or the duet was never going to work. He seemed upset that he'd been a disappointment, but I tried to reassure him and stayed to work with him a little more on ear training.

I was glad to leave.

Professor Flitwick and Skylar had stayed behind, but I'd insisted that I had things to do and had been given permission to leave.

I was rounding a corner when I ran into someone and was knocked flat on my butt. Normally, that kind of thing wouldn't have been able to knock me down, but I had been distracted by my musings over the duet and hadn't been able to regain my balance. "Sorry," I apologized and then froze as I looked up to see Regulus Black looming over me.

"It's okay," he said simply and reached out a hand to help me up.

Everything in my body told me not to accept. He was a Slytherin, after all, and he was rumored to be in a pretty bad group. But, he'd never acted unkindly towards me, so I reached up and let him grab my hand. He seemed surprised that I had accepted, but he pulled me to my feet nonetheless.

"Thanks," I said curtly as I picked up my bag.

He nodded at me and gave me a small smile. "No problem." When he smiled like that, I couldn't help but think that he was just as attractive as his older brother. They were different, sure, but both of them were from very wealthy pure families and they both had that self-assuredness about them…

I shook those thoughts away and began to move, but he reached out and grabbed my arm, causing me to stiffen. He let go when he saw my reaction. "Your arm is bleeding."

After a moment, I looked down and saw that there was, indeed, a small cut near my wrist from where I had scraped it when I'd fallen. "Oh," I said as I examined the cut. It wasn't very deep and I figured that I could just grab my wand and say a simple spell. "I'll just grab my wand and-"

But I didn't get the chance. Regulus grabbed my arm once again, his fingers gentle as he pulled it towards him. His wand was in one hand and without saying a word, he flicked the wand over the cut. It felt like my blood was rippling and then all of a sudden, the cut was gone. Vanished. Not even a scar.

I stared in astonishment. Mostly because that had been a pretty impressive nonverbal healing spell, but also because _Regulus Black_ had just healed me. Without me having to ask. It's like he did it… to be… _nice_.

"Umm…" All of my words suddenly left me. "Thank… thank you."

He smiled at me again. "It's no problem."

But it was a problem.

A _big_ problem.

I'd been taught all of my life that Slytherins were bad. And Regulus was supposed to be a _bad_ Slytherin, which made him doubly bad. But here he was, helping me up and healing my injuries. So, he was completely destroying everything that I had thought was sound logic. And he didn't even realize it.

"I have to go," I said abruptly.

He didn't act surprised. "Okay. See you around."

I simply nodded and walked away, my head spinning and the duet completely forgotten.


	24. Chapter 24

~Jen's POV~

The next morning passed in a blur. I was only vaguely aware of dressing in my uniform, pulling my hair up into a messy ponytail that I accented with a headband, and putting on just a little bit of makeup. In fact, I'm not even really sure what I had for breakfast, if I ate anything at all. The classes flew by, too, which was pretty unusual since classes were always able to distract me from anything.

It was only when Hale fell into step with me and slipped his hand into mine that I rejoined the world of the living.

"Hey," he said with a brilliant smile, his eyes bright. When he saw the look on my face, his eyebrows came together in a worried look. "You okay?"

"Fine," I said with a forced smile. Not fine, actually. I had been thinking about Regulus Black and all of the confusion that surrounded him.

Hale shook his head. "No, you're not. I take it you didn't actually get any sleep last night?"

When I had returned from choir practice and my run-in with Regulus, I had told the waiting Hale that I needed to go to my room and sleep because I was really stressed and exhausted. He, being the trusting guy that he was, hadn't asked any questions and had simply given me a quick kiss goodnight (which James had seen).

"I, uh, had a bit of trouble," I admitted.

"Is the duet really stressing you out this much?"

Actually, it wasn't. I had decided that Skylar and I had plenty of time to work on the duet, so it wasn't worth stressing about. Regulus Black, however, was most definitely worth stressing about. Something about the way that he was acting was really starting to get to me. "I guess so. It's just a complicated situation."

"I'm sure you and Skylar will do fine," he said reassuringly as we entered the Great Hall. "And even if you guys lose, what is it that you'll really be losing?"

"My pride," I said.

He laughed lightly. "Besides that. No one will remember it in a few years."

"I don't want to live that long in shame," I told him and sat down.

"You won't." He took the seat beside me and immediately began to fill up his plate with food. I, on the other hand, wasn't really all that hungry, even though I could usually eat almost as much as Sirius. "Are you not hungry?"

"Not really," I said, but I grabbed a bit of food and placed it on my plate so that he wouldn't push the subject.

He poured me some water without having to be asked. I guess that's just the kind of stuff that good boyfriends do. "So, Hufflepuff versus Slytherin match this weekend. Excited?"

I shrugged. "I'm not really worried about it. Why waste my time? Regulus will probably catch the Snitch within the first couple of minutes. Waste of walking, in my opinion."

"Did you want to do something else, then?" he asked me. That's when I realized that he had been planning on going to the match with me. I hadn't even thought about it because he hadn't asked me, and I wondered why I'd been left uninformed of the rule that says that a girlfriend and a boyfriend's minds should be in sync at all times. I seemed to be completely missing everything.

"Um, sure. I'm sure I'll have a lot of homework to do, though."

"Me too," he said simply. "We can work on it together."

Something strange inside of me wanted to say no – that I wanted my space. But Hale was just doing what he thought a boyfriend should do. "Okay. That sounds good."

"Oh, you'll never guess what happened to Jordan McGregor."

I looked over at him, grateful for the subject change. "What happened?"

He launched into a tale about how Jordan had accidentally blown up a plant in Herbology and gotten severe burns on her arms. That really didn't surprise me, actually; Jordan was a Hufflepuff that often jumped into things without thinking so that she could prove to everyone how brave she was. Unfortunately for her, those plans rarely ended up working.

"She's in St. Mungo's now," Hale finished. "But she should be alright."

"Good," I said. "I just really wish that she would stop with these stupid stunts."

He laughed. "Maybe one day she'll wise up."

"Doubt it," I mumbled and finished off a roll. "I have to leave a little early. I promised Professor Slughorn that I'd come in and help him cut up some ingredients for his first year class."

"I'll walk you," he offered immediately.

I pushed my frustration down and smiled instead. "No, it's okay. You stay here and finish your lunch."

"But-"

Before he could say or do anything else, I took my bag and walked out of the Great Hall.

~James' POV~

"And he had the audacity to kiss her in front of me!"

Sirius was laughing and Remus was rolling his eyes. Peter wasn't even paying attention, choosing instead to cram for the quiz we were supposedly going to have in Charms.

"It's not funny!" I told Sirius and then looked at Remus. "And I'm not being stupid or paranoid either."

"I didn't say that," Remus said. "But I do think that you need to back off a little bit and let your sister have her own love life without you barging into it every few moments."

I flinched at the words 'love life'. That was _so_ not what I wanted to hear. "She's more than welcome to date whomever she wants. I would just appreciate it if she would not flaunt her relationships in front of me."

"Nobody said that you had to watch them kiss," Sirius reminded me.

"They left me no choice!" I defended myself. "Perhaps if they had given me a bit of warning-"

Remus cut me off. "If they'd given you a warning, then you would have wrenched them apart. And Peter, you're getting those spells severely mixed up."

Peter blushed and studied the book again with rapt attention.

"I wouldn't have wrenched them apart," I said in my defense. "I might have suggested that they go somewhere else, but I-"

"Prongs, come on," Sirius said around a mouthful of food. "You don't like your sister dating, let alone kissing anyone. You wouldn't have sent them off to be alone."

I sighed. "I feel so outnumbered and betrayed here."

"You could study for the quiz and feel rewarded and smart," Remus suggested.

"Nah," I said. "I'm totally prepared for that quiz. Charms is easy."

"Speaking of Charms," Sirius said with a grin. "Turn yours on right now because here comes Evans."

"What are you-"

"James."

I spun halfway around in my seat and smiled at Lily, who looked as gorgeous as ever with her wavy hair and her luminous eyes. Merlin, I didn't see how I could be any more in love with someone. Remembering Jen's advice, I acted completely natural and tried not to let the admiration show too much. "Hi, Lily. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Could I, um, sit down?" she asked.

My heart began to pound in my chest. "Sure!"

As she sat, I shot all of my friends a glare that told them that they better not say or do anything to mess this up for me. Remus responded with an eye roll, greeted Lily, and then said that he and Peter were going to go to the library so that he could help Peter before class started.

I suggested that Sirius go, too, but he reminded me what I'd said about Charms being easy and said that he wasn't quite done with his lunch yet. Really, though, he was just being annoying because that's what best friends do. How many times had I given his latest conquest a rough time?

"I was wondering if maybe you'd like to study for that Transfiguration test," Lily said and I noticed that she was blushing. Yes, actually _blushing_. She was concentrating on the food that she was loading onto her plate, but she was blushing.

Score! She actually liked me!

Remembering to keep my head deflated, I said, "Sure. I'd love to. When?"

"How 'bout tonight?" she asked me. "I can meet you in the library at seven."

Seven. I knew that I would be counting down the seconds until then. "Yeah, sure. That sounds good."

Sirius jumped into a conversation about the upcoming Charms quiz that Lily quickly fell into and I had a little time to inwardly celebrate. Lily had asked _me_ to study with her! I didn't think that I was ever going to get over it. After six years of trying to get her to like me, she was finally realizing how perfect we could be together.

Seven.

Merlin, that was just too far away.

It was going to be the longest afternoon of my entire life.


	25. Chapter 25

~James' POV~

Lily and I had studied in the library together three times now. To my dismay, a lot of actual studying went on, but we also talked, and I loved getting to know her better. I found out a lot about her home life and about the reason why she and Severus Snape had used to be so close. She thanked me for standing up for him and for holding back from bullying him. She told me that I'd grown up a lot and that she really liked that.

Liked _me_.

"So, after you add those two ingredients-" She cut off as she saw me looking at her. With a sigh, she tossed her fiery hair over one shoulder and the scent of her shampoo washed over me. "James, we're supposed to be studying. Professor Slughorn said that this potion was on the last three exams."

"Sorry," I apologized with my famous cocky grin. "I'm not easily distracted, but you seem to have completely blown me away."

A furious blush spread across her cheeks and she looked down, trying to hide it. "After those two ingredients, you-"

I reached across the table and put my hand on top of hers. "Lily."

She looked up at me, her face still full of color, bringing out the bright green of her eyes. "Yes?"

_Did she sound nervous or was that just me?_ "I like you, Lily," I said, my heart hammering in my chest. "A lot. I was just wondering if-"

"James! Lily!"

_No! Go away! Can't you see I'm pouring my heart out here?!_ I took my hand off of Lily's and stood, turning to see a prefect from Hufflepuff running towards our table, eyes wide and long brown hair flowing out behind her as she sprinted.

"James! Lily!" she said when she reached our table, out of breath from running. "You have to come…"

"What is it, Sarah?" Lily asked in concern, touching the girl's arm. "What happened?"

"An attack," Sarah gasped out. "There was an attack in the corridors. Down by Moaning Myrtle's bathroom."

Lily and I were gone in the flash, forgetting our books and things at the table. I wanted to sprint the whole way there, but I knew that Lily wouldn't have been able to keep up, so I slowed my pace to match hers. Neither of us said a word, but I knew that we were both going through scenarios in our heads of what could have happened. There'd been more than a few serious injuries at Hogwarts – duels could get pretty out of hand; that's why it was banned in the corridors.

Finally, we reached the site that Sarah had told us about. A Gryffindor boy was sprawled on the ground, moaning in pain. Next to him was another prefect, this one from Ravenclaw. She looked up when she heard us arrive and looked relieved. "Good. I sent Sarah to find you. I have no idea what happened – he won't talk to me."

I took her place as she began to talk to Lily and I touched the boy's shoulder. He looked vaguely familiar… I thought he was a fourth year. He looked so young, his shaggy brown hair and long lashes making him look about ten. He was short, too, and very skinny.

_Just a little kid…_

"What's your name?" I asked, trying to keep the anger out of my voice.

The kid squeezed his eyes shut and moaned again. "Jacob."

"Who did this to you, Jacob?" I asked.

"It hurts," he whimpered and my anger intensified. Blood was running from multiple cuts on his body and I knew that he would have bruises.

Suddenly, Lily was kneeling beside me, wand out. She began to murmur incantations to try to heal the cuts, but they weren't working.

"Dark magic," she whispered, astonished.

"Yes," I agreed and then asked the boy, "Who did this to you? Did you see them?"

"I ran into one of them," he said. His voice was hard to understand – it sounded like his throat had been grated. "I apologized, but he said that wasn't good enough."

Lily's face flamed with anger. "Who?"

"I…" the kid began to violently cough and blood covered my pants. I held his shoulders steady until he was done coughing and then set him gently back on the ground.

"We need to get him to Madam Pomfrey."

Lily nodded. "Can you-?"

"Yes," I cut her off and slipped my arms under the kid's body. "I can carry him."

I picked her up and we began to walk, both of us silent until I asked, "Where did the Ravenclaw girl go?"

"I sent her to get Professor Dumbledore," Lily replied. "He needs to be informed."

The kid felt like he weighed twenty pounds or less. So small. How could they pick on someone so small?

_Who did this?_

The kid whimpered again.

Lily reached out and gingerly touched his hair. "Shh. We're going to get help for you."

We came into the hospital wing and Madame Pomfrey immediately came out of her office, eyes wide. "Oh, Merlin!" she said. "Put him on the nearest bed, Potter!"

I did as she'd asked and then she and Lily began to talk as she tried to heal the boy's cuts. It wasn't working, so she just started bandaging them. But, they were bleeding through.

The boy was moaning even louder now.

And then, the doors flew open and Professor Dumbledore came in, his robes billowing around him. The twinkle that was normally in his eye had disappeared. He looked positively furious.

That made two of us.

Without a word, he went to the boy's bedside and took out his wand. Somehow, he got the cuts to close up on themselves, and then he muttered something to Madame Pomfrey. She nodded and began mixing some type of concoction that I thought was supposed to help his throat.

After he had taken a few long drinks, he coughed, and then said, "Thanks." His voice sounded much better.

Professor Dumbledore looked intently at the kid. "Jacob, correct?"

Jacob nodded, looking surprised to see Professor Dumbledore standing there. "Yes, sir."

"Who did this to you, son?"

Jacob looked down at his lap. "I didn't see all of their faces. They just came around the corner and I ran into one of them. He got mad, even though I apologized, and he shoved me down and took out his wand. I didn't have my wand with me… there was nothing I could do."

"These boys," Professor Dumbledore asked, "Who were they?"

Jacob shuddered. "Slytherins."

"Can you give me the names of the ones you recognized for sure and then the ones that you _think_ were there?"

Jacob nodded. "Yes, sir." And then he began naming names, beginning with the ones that he had seen for sure. The others were just guesses.

My anger grew with each word.

It wasn't until after Jacob was done with his list that I realized Lily had been holding my hand the whole time, tears streaming steadily down her face.

~Jen's POV~

"Oh come on!"

"You lose a turn!"

"You cheated!"

"Did not!"

"Did so!"

"Just give up your turn!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Forget it!"

I sighed and leaned back against the couch I was sitting on. "Why is he so intense about this game?"

Remus chuckled. "Sirius doesn't like to lose and Peter only argues to feel like part of the group."

"This is ridiculous." And then, James came into the common room, face grim. I was immediately concerned, and I snapped at Sirius and Peter to shut up before I walked over to my brother's side and touched his arm. "What's wrong, James? What happened?"

The other Marauders joined us, all of them looking as concerned as I was sure I looked.

James let out a shaky breath. "There was an attack… on a Gryffindor fourth year…" he went on to describe a little bit of what had happened and how Jacob was doing. With every word that he spoke, I felt anger swell within my chest, threatening to burst free any moment. One thing that I hated more than anything else was when someone attacked someone that was completely defenseless, like Jacob had been.

"Who did it?" Sirius asked, anger in his voice.

James recited the list of people that Jacob had seen for sure. I wouldn't have put it past any of them. "They're in professor Dumbledore's office right now, being expelled," he said angrily. "Good riddance, in my opinion."

I couldn't agree more. They deserved worse than that, actually. "What about the others? The ones that he only guessed at?"

"They'll be pulled in for questioning later," James said and then looked at Sirius. "There was one name…"

"What name?" Sirius asked, confused.

We all looked at James expectantly.

"Regulus Black."

I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. All of the air seemed to have left my body.

_No_, I thought. _No._


	26. Chapter 26

~Jen's POV~

As I got up for the Quidditch match, I told myself that I really shouldn't have been surprised. Regulus was a Slytherin, after all, and therefore he was bound to go bad eventually. And the Blacks were notorious for being bullies (save for Sirius, and even _he_ picked on people sometimes). Regulus was also rumored to be a part of a group that intended to serve Voldemort.

_But he was so nice…_

I pushed the thought away as I pulled on the clothes that I would wear under my Quidditch robes. The sooner that I accepted Regulus as the enemy, the better. I didn't need to keep giving myself a headache, trying to figure out how he could have been involved. His name was only on the "maybe" list, and only because he was known to run around with a couple of the people that had been named as positives for the attack. Still, he would be questioned.

_What if he did do it? I just can't see Regulus doing something like that. He's been so nice… helping me find library books, showing me where the Snitch was, helping me up, healing my arm…_

I brushed my hair back into a high ponytail and used bobby pins to keep the wisps out of my face. The last thing that I needed was a distraction during the Ravenclaw match.

Well… _another_ distraction. I already had a distraction in the news of Regulus Black.

I grabbed my broom and left just as my roommates were beginning to stir. Hale was waiting for me in the common room, dressed in jeans and a crimson T-shirt. He smiled and stood to give me a quick kiss when I came in. "Did you sleep well?" he asked.

"Yes," I lied. I had tossed and turned all night, thinking about Regulus. James had described what the group had done to the Gryffindor boy, and try as I may, I just couldn't picture Regulus doing any of that. I had occasionally slipped into unconsciousness, but dreams of Regulus woke me and set me to thinking all over again.

"Nervous?" he asked and took my hand once we were out of the portrait hole.

"Maybe a little," I said. "Especially with the last Snitch fiasco with Hufflepuff."

"It happens," he reassured me. "You'll do great today, I know it."

"Hopefully," I said and let him talk about the essay that he had written for Charms.

James and the other Marauders were already waiting at the Gryffindor table, and it was just a sign of how nervous James was that he didn't even comment on the fact that Hale still held my hand.

"He was talking about strategies in his sleep," Sirius informed me, pointing to the bags under his eyes. "None of us got any rest."

"I did," Peter said.

"You can sleep through anything," Remus retorted and sighed. "Toast anyone?"

"I'll have some."

He plopped some down onto my plate.

I didn't really feel like eating, but that had less to do with Quidditch and more to do with Regulus. I knew that I shouldn't have been letting it affect me that much, but it was like I couldn't help it. Something inside of me couldn't let it go.

Sirius suddenly growled, his eyes darkening in anger. "There he is."

"Who?" I asked, not bothering to turn around.

"My brother."

That did it. I turned in my seat to watch as Regulus came into the room, looking more exhausted than I'd ever seen him. He'd probably been questioned all night.

"Dumbledore questioned him," Sirius continued in a voice full of loathing. "But apparently, he wasn't there. That's the story, anyway. Of course he'd be able to get out of it."

My heart soared, strangely, when I heard that he wasn't found guilty. He would get to continue his education and…

I turned back around to face Sirius. "So, you think he did it?"

"No doubt about it," he said around a mouthful of sausage. "It's exactly the kind of thing he'd do; Mum and Dad are proud, no doubt."

"There's not a single doubt in your mind?" I asked. There was no brotherly love between them at all.

"Nope," he said and swallowed. "Everyone else thinks he's guilty, too."

I turned my head slightly and saw everyone staring at him as he got some food.

_Well, at least the Slytherins will still be supportive of him._

James spoke up for the first time. "The ones that were positively identified were expelled. Good riddance."

"Too bad my brother wasn't among them," Sirius said and then turned his attention to a pretty girl that had just sat down beside him. Normally, he didn't notice girls all that much (even though they always fawned over him), but sometimes he liked them for a distraction.

Hale talked to me about all kinds of things and I tried to pay attention, but it really wasn't working out. My thoughts were on Regulus and how hard it was going to be for him. I chalked it up to my compassionate nature and tried to ignore everything else that my brain was trying to get me to realize.

James finally stood up and nodded at me. "Let's go."

Hale gave me a quick kiss for luck and then James and I left, brooms over our shoulders.

"Are you nervous?" he asked me as we walked through the front doors.

"Yes," I admitted. "I don't want what happened during the Hufflepuff match to happen again."

"It won't," he assured me and gave me a smile. "That was just a little mistake. We won in the end. Everything is going to go smoothly."

I managed a smile. "Are you trying to reassure _me_ or yourself?"

"I don't know," he laughed. "Both, I guess."

We were the first ones in the locker room and he ran his pre-game speech by me. When the rest of the team arrived, he delivered it to them, and I fixed my gloves and shoes into place.

"It's time," Diego said finally.

It was only then that I noticed we'd all been deathly quiet.

"Come on," James instructed and stood up in front by me so that we could fly out. Right before we got on our brooms, he shot me a lazy grin and ran his hand through his hair. "Quick catch, Jen. Alright?"

"Deal," I smiled.

We flew out, Ravenclaw flew out, and then the captains shook hands.

I tensed on my broom, waiting for the Quaffle to be thrown up into the air.

Finally, it was, and James grabbed it before anyone else could. Like a rocket, he was off down the field.

I flew up into the air and immediately began my search for the Snitch. I pushed thoughts of Regulus aside, but of course I couldn't stop them completely. I kept seeing him smiling at me, or handing me the correct book in the library. I saw him helping me up and the gentle look on his face as he had healed my cut. They weren't things that I needed to be thinking about during an important Quidditch match, but I couldn't help myself.

We scored forty points before Ravenclaw snapped out of whatever trance they'd been in and began to play back. I flew interference whenever I could, but it wasn't quite enough. All of their Chasers and their Keeper were returners to the team. We had a lot of new people.

_Snitch. I need the Snitch._

Almost instinctively, my eyes moved towards the Slytherin section.

_No, stop! He's not going to help you!_

I severely reprimanded myself for even thinking about letting Regulus help me again. I needed to catch the Snitch on my own.

"Come on, Jen!" Diego yelled encouragement as he flew past with the Quaffle under his arm.

I shot off in a random direction, hoping that maybe some luck would find me. I needed to catch the Snitch before Ravenclaw managed to tie the score with us. We needed as many points as possible.

And then I saw it.

Hovering so closely to the ground that I knew I was going to need to pull off a _very_ impressive dive to catch it.

But I had been practicing dives all summer.

_But dives _that_ steep?!_

I took a breath to calm myself and then dove.

"Jennifer Potter has spotted the Snitch!"

The crowd roared.

_Too close to the ground! Too close!_

I continued to dive, the ground coming closer and closer.

_Too close!_

I knew that I needed to pull up, but I needed to go just a bit further…

Right before my broom struck the ground, I managed to pull it up. Unfortunately, my weight didn't go with it and I went flying off, my hand outstretched. Somehow, my fingers managed to close around the Snitch as my head hit the ground too hard.

Tears blurred my vision and the whole world seemed to be spinning.

"Gryffindor wins!"

The chants began as I blacked out.


	27. Chapter 27

~Jen's POV~

I heard the voices before I could really distinguish them. They all ran together in my head, because sorting them out would have taken far too much effort on my part. My brain was still foggy, and it felt like my body weighed approximately nineteen thousand tons.

"But she'll be okay? I mean, you're sure?"

"Like I said, Mr. Potter, she just hit her head a bit too hard. She'll be just fine."

"But you said that she shouldn't attend classes until Tuesday. Does that mean-"

"That's just the school policy for concussions."

"Do you think she'll have that thing where she doesn't remember stuff?"

"Amnesia."

"No, Mr. Potter. I think she'll be just fine. Now, I need to go check on another one of my patients. You're welcome to stay, as long as you don't disturb her."

I focused on opening my eyes, but it wasn't really working out for me. They weighed just as much as my body and I was too weak and exhausted to do much of anything about it. Still, I kept trying.

"How did she still manage to catch the Snitch?"

"I don't know."

"You should have seen it, James. It was like… wow. I can't even describe it."

"I thought she'd died."

"What a thing to say, Wormtail."

"Sorry, I just-"

"She'll be fine, James. You heard Madame Pomfrey."

"Yeah, but I still-"

"Hey, I think her eye just twitched!"

It had. That meant progress.

"Really?" That was James' voice.

Slowly, I felt my brain begin to unfog.

"Shh! Watch and see if she does it again!" Sirius. Of course he would make me out to be some mannequin on display.

Finally, I managed to open my eyes, and I blinked rapidly to try to stop so much light from entering at once. I had a massive headache that I hadn't noticed before, and the light only made it worse. My body hurt, too, like it always did when I worked it too hard.

And the Marauders were crowded around my bed, all of them staring down at me with different expressions – Sirius with amusement, James with protectiveness, Remus with concern, and Peter with curiosity.

"Sorry, it costs three sickles a minute to stare at me," I mumbled, my throat dry.

Remus moved to get me some water while Sirius replied, "That's outrageous! You're not _that_ pretty, you know."

"Thanks," I mumbled sarcastically and gave Remus a genuine thanks as I took the glass of water he offered. I gulped in down in what I was sure was record time, and then handed the glass back for him to put away.

It was silent, then, until I asked, "Did we win the match?"

James stared at me, as if questioning my sanity, and then said, "Of course we won the match, Jen. Thanks to your stupid stunt."

I should have guessed that he would feel the need to lecture. I tried to defend myself before he could get too into it. "If I hadn't made that dive, then they would have just kept scoring and we would have gotten behind-"

"You couldn't wait for it to _move_?!" he asked.

"I saw an opportunity to catch the Snitch, and I went for it," I said defensively as I pulled myself into a sitting position, wincing as I did so. "It's what Seekers do, James."

He opened his mouth to reply, looking like the poster child for overprotective brothers, but Remus put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a pointed look. "We're glad you're okay, Jen. How do you feel?"

After shooting him a grateful look, I replied, "Like I got run over by a truck."

"Or hit the ground because of a stupid-"

Remus shot him a look and James stopped right in the middle of his sentence.

I sighed. "How long have I been out?"

"A couple of hours," Sirius responded. "Madame Pomfrey said that's normal, though. You needed time to heal yourself. And she did a spell, too, that I think helped a lot."

"Hale came by," Remus said. "But he was shooed out. Madame Pomfrey said that you had way too many visitors and James made him leave instead of one of us."

I nodded slowly, wincing as I did so. "Oh, that's… that was nice of him."

We talked for a little while longer about anything and everything, and then Madame Pomfrey came to check my progress. She told me that she had to keep me overnight because of school policy, but that I would be free to go first thing in the morning. James wanted to stay overnight, but she finally succeeded in shooing him and the others out.

"We'll talk about this later," James said as he kissed my forehead. "You're not getting off that easy."

"Of course not," I mumbled.

They left and then Madame Pomfrey made me eat a little bit of soup before she would let me go back to bed. I laid down and thought about what little I could remember of the match for a while before I finally felt myself grow sleepy. My thoughts then began to run all over the place, and then I finally drifted off to sleep.

…

When I woke, my eyes didn't open. Instead, it felt like I was more in a half sleep. I wasn't sure what had woken me, but as I laid there, I felt a presence nearby.

When I finally turned my head and managed to open my eyes just a little bit, I saw the figure sitting in the chair beside my bed, bathed in a path of moonlight.

Regulus Black.

He was dressed in jeans and a blue cotton T-shirt, his hair messy in a way that said he'd been gripping and pulling at it. He wasn't looking at me, not really. He looked kind of far away.

A dream, I thought, but I knew that it was real.

But why would Regulus Black come and visit me in the hospital wing in the middle of the night?

Just as I was about to ask him what he was doing here, he spoke.

To me, but not really. He thought I was asleep, so he said everything that was on his mind without a second thought.

"It was amazing, really, that dive," he said softly and a faint smile whispered across his lips. "You just pulled out of it a split second too late. I could show you how to judge it… there's a trick to it… took me years to figure it out."

He took a breath before he continued. "I like watching you fly. You're so good at it; like you were _made_ to be a Seeker. I think your only problem is that you try too hard – you expect to be perfect. Is it because everyone expects you to be? That's how I feel sometimes, with all of the pureblood crap…"

I was shocked.

_So he doesn't actually believe what his parents do? He doesn't care about the pureness of the blood?_

Everyone made him out to be a replica of every other pureblood that went around calling people filthy names, but he was so different. I'd always known that he was; but this proved it. He was better than anyone gave him credit for.

"I didn't do it," he whispered and now, he looked at me, though he couldn't see that I was awake because my eyes were almost completely closed and I laid perfectly still, barely even breathing. "I didn't attack that Gryffindor boy. When I heard about what they did…" He made a strangled sort of sound and shook his head slowly. "I couldn't even believe it. I don't do stuff like that – that's not what I originally thought all of this was about. I wish…"

He didn't finish his thought, even though I so desperately wanted him to.

_You wish _what_?!_

When he spoke again, his voice was barely a whisper and I had to strain to hear him. "All I can think about now when I hear people whispering at me or see them staring at me is what you think of me. How crazy is that?" He let out a strange, soft laugh. "Why would I care what _you_ think of me, right?"

He sighed. "I don't know the answer, either. I wish I did, but I don't. I just… You're so…" He laughed again. "I'm really glad you're unconscious, because if you were awake, this would be _really_ embarrassing."

I was actually surprised that he couldn't see me blushing or hear my heart beating.

"I just wish that I was worthy of someone like you," he finally whispered.

My heart went wild.

_Surely he'll hear it now._

But, he didn't. He simply watched me for a few more moments, let out a sigh, and then reached out and gently touched my face for a few seconds before he stood and walked away, leaving me alone in the darkness.


	28. Chapter 28

~Jen's POV~

I was released from the hospital wing the next day. Madame Pomfrey told me that I needed to take it easy and gave me a potion for the headaches that I was bound to have. She also wanted me to skip classes on Monday to rest, but I told her there was no way that was going to happen. She'd pursed her lips, but in the end agreed because, really, there's no way to stop a Potter that has their mind set to something.

James walked me back to the Gryffindor common room, where herds of concerned Gryffindors clustered around me, shouting questions and commending me for my amazing catch.

It was really starting to give me a headache when a hand grabbed my arm and gently pulled me through the crowd. It wasn't until we were through the portrait hole that I realized it was Hale. He was grinning at me, holding both of our schoolbags. "I thought you might want to go to the library and get some work done. It's quiet there."

I gratefully took my bag and settled it on my shoulder, waving off his protests. "I'm fine, Hale. I can carry my bag."

"I was trying to be chivalrous," Hale frowned.

I laughed as we began to walk. "It was very chivalrous of you to get me out of that crowd. They were starting to give me a headache."

He brightened just a bit, but he was still frowning. "I tried to get in to visit you, but Madame Pomfrey said that you already had too many visitors and I-'

I touched his arm reassuringly. "I know. Thank you."

"How are you?" His expression was pure concern.

"I'm fine," I said quickly, wondering how many times I was going to be repeating that phrase over the coming days. "Just a concussion."

"It could have been a lot worse," he said, just as James had. "You shouldn't have tried a move like that."

"It didn't look that close to the ground from as high up as I was when I saw it," I mumbled.

He looked at me with a grin. "Did James buy that excuse?"

"No," I admitted. "But I should have pulled off that dive. I was just a split second too late…"

Regulus had said much the same thing. _"You just pulled out of it a split second too late. I could show you how to judge it… there's a trick to it… took me years to figure it out."_

He laced his fingers through mine, causing me to lose my train of thought. "It's alright. You caught the Snitch, so what does it matter? We still won?"

"_I like watching you fly. You're so good at it; like you were made to be a Seeker. I think your only problem is that you try too hard – you expect to be perfect. Is it because everyone expects you to be? That's how I feel sometimes, with all of the pureblood crap…"_

Hale's words were nice, but I liked Regulus' better, even though I didn't want to. I wanted to completely forget that he'd ever come to see me in the hospital wing, but I simply couldn't. I knew that I was going to be thinking about it every time that I let my mind wander. I still wasn't quite sure how I felt about it… How was I _supposed_ to feel?

"Yeah," I said quietly as we entered the library. Madame Prince asked me how I was doing and told me to let her know if I needed anything. After thanking her, I pulled Hale to a table far away from my usual corner, though I wasn't sure why. Maybe it was just because that corner was… _mine_. It felt like an intimate part of me, a place that I went to be alone.

"_I didn't do it. I didn't attack that Gryffindor boy. When I heard about what they did… I couldn't even believe it. I don't do stuff like that – that's not what I originally thought all of this was about. I wish…"_

A small part of my brain – the part that I'd been molded into by years of experience and influences (including my brother and the other Marauders) – told me that Regulus was a Slytherin and couldn't be trusted.

The other part told me that he wouldn't have lied if he'd thought I was asleep. And if he was just a typical Slytherin, then he wouldn't have even come to visit me in the hospital wing, especially when he had to go through all of the trouble to sneak in.

"We should start with Transfiguration," Hale said and took out the essay he'd been working on while I did the same. "Here, listen to what I have so far…"

He began to read, but I didn't hear his words.

I heard Regulus'.

"_All I can think about now when I hear people whispering at me or see them staring at me is what you think of me. How crazy is that? Why would I care what you think of me, right?" _

Indeed, why _would_ he care what I thought of him?

Hale continued to read, but I only knew that because I saw his lips moving.

Regulus' voice continued to reverberate through my head, unstoppable.

"_I don't know the answer, either. I wish I did, but I don't. I just… You're so… I'm really glad you're unconscious, because if you were awake, this would be really embarrassing."_

What would he have said if he'd known that I was awake? Would he have even approached me if that had been the case? That would have helped me a lot – then I wouldn't have been thinking about him so much. I would have been able to actually get some sound sleep the night before.

"_I just wish that I was worthy of someone like you."_

That was the part that puzzled me the most. What did he mean by worthy? Worthy of what? And why, when I thought about that whispered statement, did my heart beat faster? Why, when I remembered his hand gently touching my face, did I long for his touch?

"Jen?"

Hale's hand on mine brought me out of my reverie. A blush flared up on my cheeks as I looked into his concerned eyes.

"Are you all right?" he asked me.

_You shouldn't be thinking about another guy – especially one like Regulus Black – when you're with your BOYFRIEND! Get it together, Jen!_

I cleared my throat. "I just have a headache, that's all. It's fading now."

Looking relieved, he went back to reading his paper.

I tried to concentrate this time.

~James' POV~

"Are you sure?" Lily asked me as we walked towards a spot I had picked out near the lake. "I mean, I completely understand if you'd want to be with your sister right now after everything that happened."

I gave her a reassuring smile. "It's okay, Lily. We already had plans for this picnic, and I _would_ be with her, if she wasn't off with her boyfriend at the moment."

Lily gave me a knowing smile. "You don't like him? Hale's a good guy."

"I don't like any bloke that's dating my sister," I informed her matter-of-factly as I began to spread out the blanket I'd brought.

"Where'd you manage to get all of the food?" Lily asked, looking through the basket to get out our food.

I grinned at her. "Can't tell you. It's a secret."

She pretended to pout as she sat beside me on the blanket and handed me a sandwich. "So, your sister, she'll be alright?"

I nodded, grateful for her concern. "She's going to be just fine, Madame Pomfrey says."

"Scared everyone to death," Lily commented after swallowing a bite of her sandwich.

"Tell me about it," I muttered. I had turned on my broom, when I heard the crowd gasp, just in time to see Jen hit the ground. In all honesty, I'd thought she'd broken her neck. Falls like that were dangerous, which was why I'd chewed her out so harshly as soon as I was sure she was going to be alright.

She was about to say something else, but then she abruptly leaned forward and pressed her lips to mine. I was too surprised to respond and by the time I wanted to, she had pulled away, blushing ferociously. "I'm sorry… I…"

I smiled. "Don't be sorry." And then I leaned forward and kissed her, softly. It took a lot of restraint to pull away, but I was glad I did, because I didn't want to push her too far too fast. I'd waited a long time for this.

And it was just as sweet as I'd thought it would be.

She smiled breathlessly and then froze, staring at something beyond my shoulder.

I turned to see a large black dog sitting several feet away, looking quite amused.

"How cute," Lily laughed.

"Adorable," I grumbled.


	29. Chapter 29

~Jen's POV~

I was, officially, the worst girlfriend ever. Hale kept going on and on about Christmas plans and how he already had my gifts, but I'd barely given any thought to what I was going to get him. My thoughts lately had all centered around Regulus. Not exactly proper, I was well aware, but I couldn't help it.

"You should come," Hale was saying, and I was totally lost. He'd started talking about his family's Christmas traditions twenty minutes ago, and I had immediately zoned out and thought about Regulus' words to me when he'd thought I was unconscious. That's not okay, is it? Girlfriends are supposed to be attentive when their boyfriends are speaking to them, not thinking about something a _different guy_ said to them. (No matter how sweet and/or enigmatic the aforementioned other guy's words were.)

"Come where?" I asked him, hoping that I wouldn't have to admit that I hadn't been paying attention. I didn't want him to feel like I didn't think he was important. Because he was, and I was glad that he was my boyfriend. He walked me to class, opened doors for me, treated me exactly the way that James had outlined (minus the no physical contact part), and was altogether perfect.

He laughed as if he thought I'd just told him a joke (which was better than him honing in on my lack of attention to his words). "To meet my parents. Spend Christmas with us, since you said that your parents won't be home for the holidays."

My heart began to pound in my chest, so loudly that I wondered how its echoes weren't sounding in the nearly empty corridor. Hale and I had been patrolling for a while, but it seemed as though everyone was in their common rooms, seeking shelter from the cold. "Um, what?"

"Meet my family," he said and smiled at me. "I've written them letters about you; they'd love to meet you."

"I…" I knew that I had to play this well so as not to hurt his feelings. Thankfully, I'd grown up around a group of manipulators and I was sure that I could play this off very well. "I'd really love to meet them, too, but don't you think we should wait a little bit? I mean, that's a really huge step and…"

He cut me off. "I'd be willing to take that step." His voice rang with sincerity. "But, I mean, if you aren't ready for something like that, I can understand."

I let out a breath of relief. "Thank you, Hale. Maybe sometime over the summer."

He brightened considerably. "That'd be great. You could come with us to my grandmother's house in Ireland! We go there for a couple of weeks every summer and it's really pretty out there. She lives on the top of a hill that overlooks…"

I zoned out as he went on to describe exactly where his grandmother lived. Good girlfriends listened to their boyfriends when they talked, I knew, but perhaps I just wasn't a very good girlfriend. Reluctantly, I accepted that fact and moved on to thinking about the plans for the full moon (which was coming up, only a few days before the last few days of school preceding winter break). In all fairness, though, I did make a few plans to get Hale some presents for Christmas, even though I was unsure about what the "perfect" gift would be. I'd never been a very good shopper for other people.

Finally, an hour later, our patrol shift ended and we found ourselves near the Great Hall, where the last of the lunch crowd was gathered and finishing up their plates of food. Hale and I sat beside each other at the mostly-empty Gryffindor table and I tried to make up for earlier by participating in the conversation and paying close attention to everything that he was saying.

_Jen Potter_, a voice in my head mocked me in a snobby voice. _The girl that's perfect at everything is a horrible girlfriend_.

It hurt.

But I couldn't even begin to deny it, because I knew that every single word of that statement was spot on.

~James' POV~

I was thankful that they were acting normal.

At first, when I had brought Lily over to the corner where the other Marauders had been sitting, I'd been nervous that they would scare her away. But, I knew that I couldn't keep my best friends and my girlfriend separate for too long, so I had chosen to risk it.

And it was going well.

Peter was too nervous around _any_ girl to try to say much of anything to Lily, so he kept his nose in the book that he was attempting to study and only spoke up when he needed to ask Remus a question. Remus, as always, was polite and asked Lily about her grades and the upcoming holidays. Sirius, surprisingly, hadn't said very much and was instead intent on giving me sly grins. Remembering the picnic incident when he had shown up as a dog, I shot him glares back.

When Professor McGonagall came in, everyone fell silent and gave her their attention immediately. She was old, yes, and she commanded a lot of respect from the students at Hogwarts. Especially Gryffindor, as she was our Head of House. "Attention," she said and cleared her throat. "Any student wishing to remain at Hogwarts over the holidays must sign this sheet, please."

"Not me," Sirius said with a yawn as he stretched. "Peter and I are staying with Moony."

"I guess I'm alone, then," I said as I moved to stand up. "My parents are going to visit one of their friends over the holidays and I am _not_ about to go on that little trip."

Lily's hand was suddenly on my arm and she blushed as she spoke. "Actually, James, I'd like for you to come with me and meet my parents, if that's alright with you."

I was speechless. Meeting your girlfriend's parents was a _huge_ deal. Even Peter looked up from his book at this.

Finally, I cleared my throat as I settled back into my seat. "That would be great, Lily. I'd be happy to meet your parents. Are you sure?"

She relaxed just a bit and nodded, the blush fading slightly. "Yes. I've already written them about you and they're really excited to meet you."

"Excellent." I grinned, already making a mental note to ask Jen for her advice. Sure, she was my _younger_ sister, but people loved her, as a general rule, and she would know just what to say.

"Jen is more than welcome to come and stay with me, too," Remus said. "My parents wouldn't mind; they love her."

Point confirmed. "I'm not sure what she's planning to do," I admitted. "She might want to stay."

"Or go meet Hale's parents," Sirius said with a grin at me. "I think things are getting pretty serious between them."

That did seem to be the general consensus among students. Jen was popular, so obviously news of her relationship with Hale had gotten around and a lot of people were speculating about it. From what I'd heard, most everyone seemed to think that they were a very serious couple. And I didn't like that one bit. She was too young to be in a serious relationship.

"Don't go there," I warned him.

Lily laughed at me. "You need to get over whatever it is that keeps you from liking Hale. As far as boyfriends go, your sister could do a lot worse."

"He just doesn't like thinking about her with him," Sirius said with a grin. "He's her older brother, and he considers it his personal mission to protect her from all of the evils of the world."

"And guys are the ultimate evil," I finished with a nod.

Lily rolled her eyes. "For Merlin's sake, don't you think your sister can take care of herself?"

"She can," a new voice interrupted. Jen came into view and plopped down onto the couch beside Peter. "She's just never really allowed to."

"What are you doing for the holidays?" I asked her.

She twirled a strand of her wavy black hair around her finger and shrugged. "Staying here. Might do that extra credit essay for McGonagall or something fun like that."

"You can come stay with my family with Sirius and Peter," Remus offered kindly.

She smiled at him and shook her head. "That's alright, Remus. I already signed up to stay. Besides, who knows what pranking opportunities might be available over the holidays?"

Sirius laughed. "That's our girl!"

Lily smiled kindly at Jen and began a conversation about Potions, which both she and Jen excelled at. I watched them talk for a while and, with surprise, I noticed that something was wrong with Jen.

I could tell because she was fidgeting an awful lot.

And because, well, brothers always know.

And if Hale had done anything to her, I was going to make him pay.


	30. Chapter 30

~James' POV~

"Are you sure you're going to be all right here by yourself?" I asked yet again.

Jen laughed and lightly hit my arm. "I told you, James, I'll be just fine. I don't mind staying here by myself. Maybe I'll be able to uncover a new secret passageway or something to put on the map."

I lowered my voice as I leaned closer to her. "Is everything okay with Hale?"

She looked surprised. "Hale? Yes. Why?"

"You've been acting strange lately," I said and spoke again as she opened her mouth to protest. "Don't deny it, Jen. You're a fantastic liar, but you can't lie to me."

Knowing this was true, she changed directions. "Good luck with Lily's parents."

"I'll need it," I said and then steered the conversation back where I wanted it. "And you're _absolutely_ sure that you'll be okay? I would honestly prefer you go stay with Remus' family."

"I know you would," she laughed. "But really, James, I'll be fine."

Remembering Remus' words about how I needed to quit being quite so overprotective, I sighed. "Alright, then. Make sure you write."

She laughed. "It's not as if we're parting for a _year_, James. Just a couple of weeks."

We reached the school platform, where kids were getting onto the train. I turned to her and gave her a tight hug. "Still. Write, okay?"

"I will," she promised.

Lily came up next and gave me a smile. "I got us a compartment." Then, she looked at Jen with concern that I loved. "Are you sure you want to stay here? You can come to my parents' house, too."

Jen smiled and hugged Lily, which made me love both of them even more. Them getting along meant a lot to me. "Thanks so much, Lily. But, really, I'll be just fine here."

Lily shrugged and smiled as she pulled away. "If you say so."

Jen nodded and then looked at me. "I'll see you both when you get back."

"Later," I agreed.

She turned then and walked away, pausing only long enough to hug Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Then she continued on her way, her dark hair blowing out behind her like a banner, her hands stuffed into the pockets of her jacket.

"Is something wrong?" Lily asked. "With Jen, I mean. She's been acting kind of weird lately."

That made me worry even more. Me noticing was one thing (I was, after all, her brother), but if someone else noticed, then it was pretty serious. "You've noticed, too?"

"Not at first," she said with a small smile. "But I've noticed you." At this, she blushed, but continued with her explanation. "I mean, I've just noticed you watching her and looking kind of worried. She does seem a little quieter, too, doesn't she?"

"She won't tell me that anything's wrong," I said as I took Lily's hand and led her up into the train. "It's obvious to me that something is, but she keeps insisting that she's fine."

"What do you think it could be?"

We reached an empty compartment and Lily and I sat together, keeping the door open for Remus, Sirius, and Peter. I had told Lily that I would sit with her and her friends if she wanted, but she insisted on sitting with my friends, saying that she liked them a bit better. Secretly, I was very glad for that. I didn't know how long I could sit in a compartment full of giggling girls without wanting to rip my hair out.

"I don't know," I finally answered. "It could be a lot of things. School, Quidditch, Hale…"

She laughed. "I just knew you were going to say that it was Hale's fault."

"I'm not sure it is," I said and shrugged. "But it's possible."

"What could he have done? He's a great guy. He wouldn't have hurt her."

"He better not have," I responded immediately. "Or-"

"James!"

"What?" I asked defensively. "She's my sister."

"Tell you what," she said with a smile. "If he's hurt her, I'll help you hex him."

I grinned at her. "You," I informed her, "are amazing."

She laughed. "Thanks."

My friends chose to make their appearance then. They all sat down on the seat across from Lily and me and then began to talk, starting a conversation about our Quidditch odds. Lily, who really didn't know all that much about Quidditch and the statistics of it, was eager for an explanation, which Sirius and I were proud to provide for her.

As the train ride passed, I grew increasingly nervous about meeting Lily's parents. Usually, I wasn't a very serious person, but I knew that this was a big deal and I was planning to take it very seriously. Jen had given me some tips and I replayed those over and over again in my head. This was one thing that I could_ not_ blow off.

When we were getting close, Lily went to go say goodbye to her other friends and my friends tried to give me some last minute advice. Then, far too soon, the train had stopped and it was time to leave. Lily and I got off of the train together and we said goodbye to my friends. Then, she grabbed my hand and pulled me along so that we could go look for her parents.

All the while, my heart was pounding. What if they didn't like me? Would Lily break up with me then? What if I said something wrong and offended someone?

Finally, we reached a middle-aged couple. The man was tall and wiry, with dark eyes and hair. The woman looked exactly like Lily, with flaming hair and bright green eyes. Both of them were observing me closely, stern expressions on their faces.

_Oh, Merlin, they hate me already._

Lily didn't seem to notice that anything was amiss. "Mum, Dad, this is James Potter. James, these are my parents."

And then, to my great relief, her parents both smiled.

Her dad stuck out his hand to me. "Great to meet you, James."

"You too, sir," I replied and shook his hand.

"It's so nice to finally meet you," Lily's mum said and surprised me by pulling me into a hug. "We've heard so much about you."

I looked over at Lily with a smile. "Really?"

"All good," Lily assured me. So, she hadn't told them about my pranks and my bullying of Severus. That was good. I had a feeling that those things weren't the type of things to win parents over.

"Shall we go, then?" her dad asked.

We all headed through the busy train station and Lily asked about her sister, Petunia, who apparently hadn't come to the train station because she was with her new boyfriend. I could tell by the look on Lily's face that she was disappointed by this, but she didn't want to let her parents know that. I got the feeling that she didn't really get along with her sister.

Once we were in the car, her parents began asking me questions about my family and what I wanted to do once I had graduated Hogwarts. I gave them the answers that had been pre-approved by Jen. After all, every adult we'd ever met had _adored_ her, so I figured that what she said was okay was a pretty safe bet.

Their house was modest, but very nice. Lily showed me to the guest room and then gave me a quick kiss before she left me to get ready for dinner. I changed into nicer clothes (that had been approved by Jen) and tried to get my hair to lie flat, but of course it refused. Jen had gotten the tame hair of the two of us. Lucky her.

When I came down for dinner, Lily's sister was there with her boyfriend, who was introduced to me as Vernon. Lily's sister, Petunia, looked nothing like Lily. Petunia was bony and her hair was brown, not red. Her eyes were different, too, not as bright. Still, they were sisters and I tried to be as nice as I possibly could.

Sitting at the table, eating dinner, I could tell that Petunia certainly didn't approve of the magic that her sister could wield. Neither did Vernon, for that matter. Part of me wanted to take out my wand and cast random spells just to make them uncomfortable, but I knew that certainly wasn't something that Jen would have approved of.

So, I suffered through the dinner and the boring conversations that Vernon started. After dinner, Lily took me outside briefly to apologize to me. "My sister… she doesn't really like the whole witch thing. She thinks I'm a freak."

I had suspected as much. Gently, I put my hand under Lily's chin and lifted her face up so that she could see me smiling at her. "You aren't a freak, Lily."

"I'm glad you're here, James," she replied.

"Me too." And then I leaned in to kiss her.


	31. Chapter 31

~Jen's POV~

_I really wish that you could be here with me. My parents do, as well, and they send their regards and hope that you'll join us for a bit of the summer vacation. I hate thinking of you all alone at Hogwarts and hope that it isn't too dull. Although, I'm sure that you've found something there to capture your attention._

_I miss you, every second of every minute that I am gone and I can't wait until I can return to Hogwarts and see you again. I'll be counting the moments until then._

_All my love,_

_Hale_

I tossed the letter aside and laid back against my pillows, hating myself for not feeling the way that I should. Most girls would love to get a letter like that from a guy like him. But I just felt… indifferent. And I hated that. I _wanted_ to feel something.

I let out an aggravated sigh, wishing that one of my roommates was here to help me decipher my feelings. But, they had all returned home for the break and I wasn't sure if I would be able to confide in them about such matters anyway. I'd never been the boy crazy type. Hell, I hadn't even known that Hale had liked me _like that_ until way after they had told me so. Ultimately, I supposed that I was just horrible when it came to guys.

After another aggravated sigh, I got up off of my bed, deciding that feeling sorry for myself wasn't going to accomplish a whole lot. So, I grabbed my book bag and headed for the library, intending to get my extra credit essays done. I also needed to work a little bit on my duet song and I would have gone flying if it weren't so cold outside. Actually… I would probably end up flying anyway; I would just make sure to bundle up before I went.

The library was, of course, empty. Almost everyone else had gone home for the holidays. In fact, there had only been one other student besides me at the dinner table the night before – a shy first year Hufflepuff that had turned bright red when I'd offered him the plate of roast.

Madame Prince was there, though, and she immediately pulled me into a conversation. We talked about a few of the new books that she had gotten in and she asked me why I hadn't gone home over the holidays. After a few more pleasantries about the weather and such, I left and went to my favorite table.

The first paper was Transfiguration, and it dealt with Animagus, even though we'd learned about them the year before (and I had been one for a while). Basically, the essay required me to discuss the pros and cons of becoming an Animagus. My pro was that it allowed me to help a very close friend during his werewolf transitions, but I couldn't write that down for obvious reasons. Nor could I let it be known that I was an Animagus. So, I tried to be as vague as possible while still making the essay an engaging read. When I had finished it, I proofread it twice – once for errors, once to check the fluidity – and then put it away, making a mental note to read over it again later.

I had been planning to save the other three extra credit essays – Charms, Ancient Runes, and Defense Against the Dark Arts – for later so that I would have things to do over the break, but I decided that I might as well get them done while I was drowning in spare time. Surely I could find something else to do over the break.

For Charms, the topic was Protective Enchantments. Basically, I had to find three of what I considered the most useful protective enchantments and write about _why_ they were the most useful. I'd read book after book about them before, so I had a pretty good idea of which three I would choose, but I read up on them a little more before I made my final decision.

That paper didn't take me very long at all and after I had proofread it, I put it away with the Transfiguration one.

The Defense Against the Dark Arts one came next, and I knew that it was going to be my favorite. It dealt with Dark Wizards. The topic was to pick one Dark Wizard from history and talk about what they had done that made them so terrible. I had asked Professor Binns for his opinion as soon as I had heard what the topic was going to be, and since I was one of the few students that he would actually have a discussion with, he gave me a full account of his "favorite" Dark Wizard. Of course, I had checked out a book on him and that made the paper a lot easier to write.

Finally, I only had the Ancient Runes left. The topic for that particular essay was to write a brief account of the history of Ancient Runes. It was an interesting topic, yes, but one that was far too extensive. How was I supposed to narrow down all of that history into a short paper? My draft ended up being far too long, so I decided to get a different book that would perhaps give me a better idea on what to write.

Not wanting to look for one myself (I already been at the library for longer than I had meant to be), I asked Madame Prince what she would recommend. She eagerly gave me a few recommendations and I thanked her before taking off in pursuit of the titles she had told me about. They were on the other side of the library and I was almost there when something made me freeze.

Someone else was in the library.

Of course, that wasn't really a cause for alarm, but there was something that was making me nervous…

Ah.

Regulus Black was in the section dedicated to Quidditch, reading some thick book as he sat cross-legged on the floor. His closely-cropped black hair had grown a bit longer than normal (almost on the verge of being shaggy) and a bit of it hung over his face, obscuring some of it from me.

_Keep walking._

But I couldn't. I was frozen, watching him.

_Jen, you have a boyfriend! Keep walking, get the books you need, and go back to your table!_

Yeah, I probably should have listened.

But I didn't.

"Regulus." For some reason, I liked the way that his name sounded.

He looked up, clearly startled. He hadn't heard me approaching. "Jen. Hi."

_Do I bring up the night in the hospital? _I wondered. The other part of my brain, the rational part that had been trying to get me to leave only a moment ago, told me that I was on my own. _Fine_. "What are you reading?"

He looked down at the book in his lap and then back at me. "_The History of Bulgarian Quidditch._ It's just about their team; how they were formed and all of that."

"I've read it," I nodded. "It was… pretty good."

He gave a small smile and strangely, I was able to read him. He was upset. And though I didn't know exactly what it was that was upsetting him, I figured that it was about what had happened to that Gryffindor kid. The one that he'd been accused of helping to attack. What was it that he had said to me in the hospital when he'd thought that I was asleep? That he couldn't stand the thought of me thinking of him as a horrible person?

"I know you didn't do it," I blurted out.

_You're an idiot! Bloody mental! What are you doing?! Turn around RIGHT NOW and go back to your dorm!_

Regulus sat there, stunned, for several long moments before he asked, "Do what?"

"Attack that kid," I said, surprised at how convincing I sounded, even to myself. Before, I hadn't quite known what to believe. I mean, I hadn't thought that he had done it… but I hadn't known that I was so sure. "I know that you didn't do it."

He looked surprised. "And how do you know that?"

_Because I was awake when you told me that in the hospital wing_. "I just… I just don't think that you did it."

"I didn't," he responded softly, though he still looked confused. But another emotion had filled his eyes… Wonder? Awe? Gratefulness?

"I know," I repeated.

_GET OUT OF HERE NOW!_

I decided to finally obey the voice, for fear of it breaking my skull from the inside. "I have to go."

"Jen…"

But I had already turned and was walking away from him.

_You are a bloody idiot! From now on, no more talking to Regulus Black!_

But I wasn't so sure that I could keep that promise.


	32. Chapter 32

**I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone that has been reading and/or reviewing this story! I'm really glad that you like it!**

~James' POV~

"I'm sorry," Lily murmured to me.

"For what?" I asked, surprised. "It's been a great day." And it truly had been. We'd taken a walk through Lily's neighborhood and through a very nice park, and then I'd taken her out to lunch at one of her favorite restaurants. And then we'd gone back to her house and snuggled under a quilt on the couch while listening to some Christmas records.

She snuggled in closer to me. "For my family."

"Your family's been great." Her parents absolutely adored me and they had already invited me to come back any time. In fact, they were eager to meet my parents. Everything was going just fine.

"My _parents_ have," she corrected me with a sigh. "But not my sister."

Well, that I had noticed. Her sister tried to get out of the house as much as possible with that ghastly boyfriend of hers. She never replied when I spoke to her and she tried to avoid Lily at all costs. Whatever had happened between them, it had been pretty big.

"You two don't get along," I observed.

"We used to," she said and then gave a small smile. "Well, sometimes. She's always been pretty bossy."

"Must run in the family," I remarked.

She elbowed me playfully and continued. "Anyway, it all started when I got my letter from Hogwarts. Mum and Dad were so proud of me and she acted like I was some kind of freak. And then I found out that she had wanted to get into Hogwarts too and had been rejected. She's hated me ever since."

"Hate's a strong word," I said gently. "She's just jealous."

"That's what I try to tell myself, too," she mused and sighed. "I just wish that there was something that I could do to mend our friendship."

"Well, there's nothing you'll be able to do unless she wants to fix it, too. Maybe she just needs more time."

Lily smiled up at me, her green eyes bright. "James Potter the Philosopher."

I chuckled. "No, not quite."

She turned serious again as she looked at me thoughtfully. "You're lucky to have such a close relationship with your sister. I've always been jealous of you two, you know."

"Why?" Jen and I had a good relationship, yes, but I'd had no idea that it had always been that evident.

She shrugged. "Why wouldn't I? From the day she started Hogwarts, you were always there for her. And even though she's younger than you, she's found ways to be there for you, too. Anyone who knows you two knows what a great relationship you guys have. You're really close; it's evident to anyone that watches."

I smiled at her. "Jen's the best sister anyone could ask for. You'll see."

She appeared confused. "I already see."

"I meant: you'll experience it. Just get close to her. I promise, she'll treat you like a sister."

Lily's eyes were full of tears as she pressed herself even closer to me and closed her lips over mine. I smiled into the kiss and wound my fingers into her flaming hair, thankful to whatever deity existed that I got to have this moment with the girl that I loved.

~Jen's POV~

I regretted having already finished all of my extra credit essays. I had finished the Ancient Runes one after the run-in with Regulus, and then I had gone back to my room and fallen asleep almost immediately, as if that one conversation had exhausted me beyond belief.

Now, I had nothing else to do. So, I grabbed the Marauders Map and pressed the tip of my wand to it. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The ink appeared suddenly, blotting the page. It only took a few seconds for the map to form, and then I opened it, searching.

_Regulus Black_.

He was in one of the Slytherin dorms. Alone. And pacing. Back and forth and back again.

"Well, that seems pretty safe to me," I mused aloud before I set the map down and began to change. I pulled on jeans, a white T-shirt, a white hoodie, and then a pink scarf. My tennis shoes were also a pinkish color, so I felt better about the horrible matching job. My straight hair went into a neat ponytail and I decided that I wouldn't bother with makeup, seeing as how there wasn't really anyone around to see how I looked.

The castle was quiet as I made my way down the corridors and the only run-in that I had was with Sir Nicholas, who stopped me to ask if I had seen Peeves around. Apparently, Peeves was planning to throw dungbombs at passerby. I told him that I would keep an eye out and then we both went on our way.

The air was cold yet refreshing, exactly what I needed after being stuck inside for so long. A fresh blanket of snow covered the ground but none was falling from the sky, so I simply used my wand to clear a space beside the Black Lake so that I could sit down. The water was frozen over and I watched, wondering if the Merpeople just stayed below the water. I made a mental note to check out a book from the library to find out for sure.

"Can I join you?"

I started a bit and then turned slightly to see that Regulus Black was standing a few feet behind me, hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket. His hair had been trimmed since the day before, back in its usual short and neat style.

_NO!_

"Sure."

He cleared a spot with his wand exactly as I had done and then sat down, his legs stretched out whereas mine were drawn up to my chest. He smelled good, I noted, and then immediately felt stupid for noticing that. But, really, it was true. His aftershave was nice.

We sat in silence for a while until he asked, "Do you think the Merpeople just stay under all of the ice?"

I gaped at him. "Can you read minds?"

He seemed confused. "No. Why?"

"I was _just_ thinking about that," I muttered and then looked back at the ice.

"Oh."

More silence. Strangely enough, though, the silence wasn't all that awkward. It was kind of… nice, not having to think of things to say. There weren't a lot of people that I could have comfortable silences with.

And Regulus Black was apparently one of them…

"I wanted to thank you," he said finally, sounding a bit nervous.

I looked over to see that he was still staring out at the ice, the same as I had been doing. I wondered if he saw what I saw: the beauty of the way that the sunlight was glinting off of the ice. "For what?" _For practically running away from you after I told you that I believed that you were innocent? For being rude to you all of those times before_?

He met my eyes with his dark ones. "For believing me. Not a lot of people do."

I could only imagine. I'd heard the things that people said about him. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged and looked back out at the ice. "At least _someone's_ on my side."

Was I on his side? I mean, I believed him, but did that mean that I was on his side? "What about the Slytherins?"

He snorted. "Like they care about my well-being. No. I hate them. All of them."

That was completely opposite of what I'd thought about him all of the time that I had known them. "Really?"

The smile that he gave me was a sad one. "Is that so hard to believe? That I'm a good person that's surrounded by bad people and hates it? I suppose I shouldn't expect any differently."

"I don't think you're a bad person," I said without a hesitation.

He seemed mildly surprised.

"I don't," I insisted and felt myself blush. "I used to, but…"

"But what?"

"You've been nothing but nice to me," I said softly, still blushing. "Even though I've been pretty rude to you at times."

"I am trying," he said softly, seriously. "Trying to be a good person."

"It must be hard with all of the influences in your life," I acknowledged.

"It is," he said. "I don't have any good friends."

"I'll be your friend."

_WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!_

His smile was dazzling. "I'd like that."

_TAKE YOUR OFFER BACK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! THAT'S REGULUS BLACK!_

I smiled back at him. I knew who he was, and I knew what I was doing. I wanted to see where all of this would go. So, I held out my hand to him. "Let's start over, then. I'm Jen. Jen Potter."

His hand was warm. "Regulus Black."


	33. Chapter 33

~James' POV~

"These eggs are delicious, James," Mrs. Potter said. "It was so nice of you to make breakfast."

"A very nice young man," Mr. Potter agreed, looking at me approvingly. I only knew that it was approval because I'd seen the disapproving look that he always gave Vernon, and this look was the exact opposite.

Lily was looking at me suspiciously.

After breakfast, she and I volunteered to do the dishes together and her parents went into the parlor to read the paper.

"What?" I asked her when I saw that she was still giving me that suspicious look.

"Why in the world would _you_ make breakfast?" she asked.

I waved my wand so that the dishes would begin to wash themselves. "You think that's beneath me?"

"Yes," she said bluntly.

I smiled at her and leaned one hip against the counter. "Well, then, you would be right. But Jen gave me a scroll that included all of the ways to impress your parents. Cooking them breakfast was on the list. And it clearly worked."

She rolled her eyes. "So, we're still going to see your parents today, right?"

"That's right," I said and got the dishes started on drying themselves. (Seriously, how did Muggles do all of this without magic?) "Do you think that your parents would prefer to go through the Floo Network or Apparation?"

"Apparation," she said automatically. "Are you sure it's not an inconvenience to your parents?"

"They were going to come back for one night, anyway," I told her, even though that wasn't true at all. I had written them a letter begging them to come back to meet Lily and her family.

She still looked suspicious, but she let it drop and instead joined me in helping by getting the dishes to go to their proper spots.

"How do I look?" Lily asked me later.

She wore a black skirt, a flower-print blouse, and her fiery hair was in a fancy updo. She looked…

"Perfect."

She blushed but didn't have time to say anything because her parents came into the room then, dressed and ready to go.

"I'll take Mum," Lily told me, loud enough for her parents to hear the arrangements. "You take Dad."

"And you're sure you've got the address down?" I asked her.

She rolled her eyes. "You've only repeated it to me a hundred times."

I repeated it again and them grinned at her. "One hundred and one."

She rolled her eyes.

I offered my arm to her father. "Ready, sir?"

He seemed apprehensive, but trusted me enough to take my arm. "Let's go."

I nodded to Lily and then concentrated, taking us to the place that had been my home since I'd been bored. We Apparated right outside of the borders and then walked up to the front door.

I rang the bell.

A few moments later, the door opened.

"Hey, Mum," I said brightly and gestured to the guests. "This is Lily Evans and her parents."

My mother grinned at them and moved aside to let us in. "How very nice to meet you all! Do come in!"

This was going to be a great night.

~Jen's POV~

I got two letters, one right after the other.

I read Hale's first.

_Hey, I really miss you. I can't wait until I get to come back to Hogwarts and see you again. I also can't wait until I get to send your Christmas presents. You're going to love them._

_Oh, and I have to tell you this funny story. Dad and I were in Gringotts and he needed to get-_

I tossed the letter aside, not really wanting to read anymore. Call me crazy, but everything that I had read so far was just boring.

I opened James' letter next and began to read.

_Hey, Jenny!_

_Everything with Lily's family is going wonderfully, thanks to you and your amazing advice on winning parents over. Her sister, Petunia, is another story entirely. But don't worry about sending a "How to Win Sisters Over" letter because I don't think that Petunia can be won over. Apparently, she hates magic because she was denied acceptance to Hogwarts, whereas Lily was accepted. Of course, after being around Petunia, it's not that surprising. I wouldn't want to deal with her either, if I were Dumbledore. _

_I convinced Mum and Dad to come home for one night so that they could meet Lily and her family, and it went wonderfully. The parents got along swimmingly and our parents genuinely seemed to like Lily, which shouldn't really come as a surprise; she's just a likeable person. All in all, I think that everything with Lily is going quite well and I'm grateful for everything you've done to help get me to this point. You're a great sister. But you already knew that, didn't you?_

_Now that all of that is out of the way, I must once again express my displeasure at you staying behind at Hogwarts all by yourself. It's my brotherly duty. Seriously, are you bloody mental? You could have come with me and Lily or you could have gone with Remus and Sirius and Peter. I just don't like the thought of you there all alone with nothing to do. It must be so boring without me there. I'll bet you've been crying into your pillow every single night, haven't you? It's okay, you can admit it; I won't think any less of you._

_Write back soon!_

_Your favorite older brother,_

_James_

I rolled my eyes as I folded the letter up and began to write a reply.

_My favorite (and only) older brother,_

_I'm sincerely glad that everything is going well with Lily. I always knew that it would go "wonderfully" if you would only deflate your head a bit, and it seems that you have done just that. I'm glad that the dinner went well, though our parents tend to get along with almost anyone and if Lily's parents are anything like her, I'm sure it wasn't too much of a hardship. _

_I've finished all of my extra credit essays and I've been planning to get some flying done, though I haven't fit it in quite yet. And, just because I feel that I should share some boring tidbit, I had a strawberry pastry for breakfast this morning, along with some Dutch cocoa that the elves were all too pleased to make for me. They really do adore me down there in the kitchens._

_Now that all of that is out of the way, I must once again express my displeasure at your overprotectiveness. I'm quite fine here at Hogwarts and I'm not all by myself. Most of the professors are here, a couple of students remained behind, and there was even a little mouse in the Common Room that I named Dave. See? I'm not all alone. And I wouldn't have wanted to intrude on your time with Lily. As for Remus' invitation, well… come on. A whole week with Peter? You know how I hate his crush on me. _

_Glad that things are going well. Hope they continue to go that way. _

_Your awesome sister,_

_Jen_

_P.S. Calling me Jenny is unacceptable and you know it. I'll let it slide this time because I'm feeling generous due to the holidays, but if it happens again, I'll hex you into next year. Or maybe I'll just tell Lily about that rather unfortunate incident with the squirrel on your eighth birthday; I think Mum still has those pictures. Got it?_

I folded the letter, put it into an envelope, and then headed for the Owlery. As I walked, I sang the duet song, beginning to worry about it. Skylar wasn't around for me to practice with, but even if he was, I had a feeling that it wouldn't be going so well.

Our voices just didn't blend well on that song.

But maybe it would work itself out somehow.

My owl fluttered down from the rafters as soon as I came in and I attached the letter to her leg. "I don't think I really need to tell you who this is for. It's obviously for James. And I want you to peck him the face for me, okay? Don't cause too much injury, but let him know that he annoyed me, okay?"

She nipped my ear affectionately, ate the treat that I offered her, and then flew off. I watched until she was out of sight and then headed back for my room, still singing the song to myself.

When I got back to my room and saw Hale's letter on my bed, I wondered if maybe I should read the rest of it. After all, he was my boyfriend…

I ended up tossing it into the trash and replying with a vague letter of my own.

Yeah, I know; I'm a horrible girlfriend.


	34. Chapter 34

~James' POV~

I was having a pleasant dream. In it, I was flying on my broom, holding the Quaffle and heading towards the goal. It seemed that I was faster than anyone else out there. I was the best by far. Crazed fans were chanting my name over and over as I put the Quaffle through the hoop yet again. Teammates swarmed around me and Jen caught the Snitch, causing our team to win. Screams of joy filled my ears as the team and I slowly descended to the ground. I was being lifted up on their shoulders and they were-

"James."

I was jolted awake when someone shook my shoulder. I abruptly sat upright and had to blink a few times before my vision cleared just enough for me to see Lily's flaming hair and bright green eyes that shone even in the darkness of the room. "Lily," I said, my voice husky with sleep. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

She bit her bottom lip for a moment before she answered. "I… I know it sounds stupid, but I had a terrible dream and I was wondering if maybe you could…"

"Cast it away with a spell?"

She gave me a look. "There's no spell to make someone have a dreamless sleep. There's a potion, but it would take hours to make."

"Maybe there's not a spell to make someone have a dreamless sleep, but I could perform a Memory charm so that you'd forget your dream."

She was quiet for a moment, and then she said, "I was wondering if perhaps I could stay with you tonight."

My heart soared within my chest and I had to work to keep the neutral expression on my face. "Yes, of course you can."

She gave me a grateful smile.

I scooted over to make room for her and she crawled under the covers with me, her body molding perfectly to mine. Her hair smelled like flowers and her skin was like velvet beneath my fingertips as I pulled her closer. "What was your dream about?"

"Death Eaters," she said and shivered. "They've been in the _Daily Prophet_ more and more lately… it's all becoming so real."

"Voldemort won't win this," I told her confidently.

She flinched at the name. "James, you really shouldn't say You-Know-Who's name like that."

"I'm not afraid," I whispered to her, my voice falling into her hair. "He's a big bully. And he _will_ be taken down. Dumbledore won't let this stand."

"Is it true that Dumbledore's asked you to be in some sort of army?" she asked me.

I remembered that night, not too long ago, when my roommates and I had been called to his office in the dead of night to discuss it. "It's not an army. It's called the Order of the Phoenix."

She pulled back a bit to look at me. "Do you think that he would let me join?"

"I think that he would let anyone who wanted to join be a part of it," I said carefully. "But, Lily, it'll be very dangerous."

"_You're_ doing it," she pointed out.

"But this is _you_ we're talking about."

She pouted a bit. "You don't think that I could do it?"

"I know you could," I told her honestly, running a finger along her cheekbone. "But I… I want to protect you, Lily. I don't want you to have to fight."

Her face softened. "I know you do, James. But we might not have that luxury. Everyone that can needs to fight this."

Well, she was right about that.

"And I'll bet Jen's going to join."

I sighed. "Dumbledore obviously won't talk to her until she's seventeen. And, yes, you're right; she'll probably join right away. But I'll give her the same speech that I'm giving you – about how dangerous it is and how I really wish that she wouldn't do it."

Lily smiled at me. "But she'll do what I'm doing and join anyway, because she's just that stubborn."

"She always has been stubborn," I agreed and then leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Okay, I'll take you to Dumbledore as soon as we get back to Hogwarts so that we can discuss it with him."

Her smile widened. "Thank you, James."

"I still wish you wouldn't," I told her, wishing to make my displeasure known.

"I know."

"And you don't care?"

She considered her answer for a moment. "All of this, what… Voldemort…" she struggled over the name. "What Voldemort is doing – it has to be stopped. And if I can help stop it… well, that takes precedence over everything else."

"You're pretty smart, you know," I told her with a small smile.

"I know," she responded. "Top of the class and all that."

I chuckled and leaned in to kiss her.

"Good night, James," she told me once we'd broken apart.

"Good night, Lily."

She snuggled closer, her head resting on my chest, and that's how we fell asleep.

~Jen's POV~

"Good morning, Miss Potter!" one of the house elves called to me as soon as I had walked into the kitchens. Others began to call out greetings as well.

I laughed. "Good morning."

"May we get you something?" the first one asked me.

"Just something for breakfast," I requested. "It seems that I woke up rather late."

They fixed me a plate of eggs and sausage, and I ate that at a small table along with a glass of pumpkin juice. After I was done eating, they gave me some food for the road and I went on my way, unsure of what I was going to do for the day. I had all of my schoolwork done, I'd already read a couple of the books on my reading list, and exploring a chilly castle wouldn't have been all of that fun all alone anyways.

I was still pondering all of this when I rounded a corner and ran into someone.

"Whoa. Sorry, Jen," a male voice said as a hand caught my arm to steady me.

Regulus Black.

_Calm down; it's okay. We're friends now, remember?_

The day before at the lake came back to me and I smiled at him. "Hey, Regulus. Sorry about that. I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going."

He smiled back at me, a smile eerily similar to his brother's: charming. "Where were you off to in such a hurry?"

"Well, that's kind of the thing," I admitted, shifting the container of desserts to the other hand. "I'm not really sure _where_ I'm off to. I don't really have anything that I wish to do today."

"I was about to go grab my broom and go flying, if you'd like to join me," he offered.

I considered this. I mean, I _had_ been planning on going flying sometime during the break, just to make sure that I didn't lose any of my skills.

"It's kind of chilly, though," he said. "So I'd understand if you don't want to go."

That was a challenge if I'd ever heard one. And, of course, I accepted. "No, it's not too cold. I'll go change and grab my broom and I'll meet you in the Great Hall."

He smiled at me. "Okay. See you in a bit."

We went our separate ways and I made my way back to the Gryffindor Tower. After giving the Fat Lady the password, I went in and climbed the stairs to my room, trying to decide what to wear. Bulky coats weren't very good for flying.

"A warming spell," I finally decided. I cast the spell on myself and then pulled on black sweatpants, a purple hoodie, and my normal flying shoes. My wavy black hair went up into a ponytail and I put on just a touch of makeup.

Then, I grabbed my broom from its place and left the room. The Fat Lady seemed pretty cranky because I'd waken her from her nap for nothing, but I paid no attention to her words as I made my way through the castle, automatically ducking to avoid being pelted with a dungbomb by Peeves and jumping the trick step without thinking about it. This castle truly was like home to me.

Regulus was waiting for me right beside the doors that would lead us outside. He was dressed in jeans and a thin black jacket, along with gloves and he held his broom in his hand. When he saw me, he smiled. "Hey. I was beginning to think that you had chickened out."

I snorted. "Not a chance. I never back down from a challenge."

"I didn't figure you would," he laughed. "You Potters are stubborn as sin."

"Funny," I mused. "That's what my mother always said."

He laughed and then put one hand on the door before he looked back at me. "Ready?"

I nodded in affirmation. "Yes, I'm ready."

With strong arms, he pushed the door open and gestured for me to go first.


	35. Chapter 35

~Jen's POV~

The air was a bit chilly, but it wasn't anything that I couldn't handle, especially with the fresh warming spell still running through my body. Regulus walked beside me, and it almost seemed like heat was radiating off of his body. Maybe he was just one of those people that was warm all of the time.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked me after a few moments of walking in silence.

I veered to avoid an icy patch of land. "Sure."

"What's your favorite food to eat when you're sick?"

I laughed. "Random much?"

He shrugged and gave me a small smile. "Believe it or not, I don't have a lot of friends. Now that I have one, I just figured I might as well get to know as much about you as I can. Friends know each other, right?"

Really, I couldn't flaw his logic. "Waffles. And really, you don't have a lot of friends? You always seem like you're surrounded by people." It was true; typically, Regulus wasn't alone. Someone was always sitting by him, talking to him.

"Just because someone's around you, does that make them your friend?" he asked me.

"Fair point. What do _you_ like to eat when you're sick?"

"Treacle tart."

I laughed. "Seriously?"

He smiled. "No lie. I don't know why, either. It's just always been that way."

"Can I ask you a question involving Sirius, or would that be too personal?"

The smile slid off of his face, but he nodded. "Go ahead."

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to," I said quickly. "It's none of my business. But I just wondered why you haven't ever gone up and tried to work things out with him."

"That's a good question," he said and considered his answer for a moment before he spoke it aloud. "I guess that it's because I didn't realize until recently how… wrong everything that I've always believed is. Before, I always went along with what my parents wanted, even though it wasn't always what I wanted. And he hated me because I was their favorite. And I always felt trapped right in the middle. So, I guess that the answer to your question is that I don't think that he would believe that I've really changed. The damage to our brotherly relationship was ruined far too long ago for anything to fix it."

"I don't know about that," I told him as we reached the field. "I mean, if James went over to the Dark side…" I shuddered at the thought. "I'd be mad, and I wouldn't want to talk to him… but if he came to me and claimed that he had changed and begged for forgiveness, then I would forgive him."

He set his broom down and began to stretch. "Yes, well, you and James have a much better relationship than Sirius and I could ever hope to have."

"I'm just saying that you'd be surprised at the things that sibling love can fix."

"I'll keep that in mind."

I sat down on the ground to stretch with him.

After a few moments of silence, he said, "The Sorting Hat was going to put me into Gryffindor, you know."

I gaped at him. "Really?"

He nodded. "It said that it saw something in me that I hadn't seen in myself yet… that I would do really well there, if given the chance. But I knew what my parents would think and I couldn't stand disappointing them, so I begged the hat to put me in Slytherin. And it did as I'd asked."

"Sirius…" I paused. "Sirius would have taken you under his wing."

"I couldn't know that for sure. I was scared."

I nodded. "Anyone would be."

"You're lucky, you know," he told me honestly as he stretched out his arms. "To have a brother that cares about you as much as James does. I'd give anything to have someone care about me like that."

"Your parents-"

"Use me as a pawn," he finished for me and gave me a wry smile. "When it comes to my well-being and such, well, they could care less as long as I'm not interrupting anything."

"I never knew," I whispered.

"How would you have?" he said with a shrug.

"Surely there must be someone…"

"Our house elf, Kreacher. He takes care of me most of the time," Regulus replied as he slowly got to his feet and offered me his hand.

I let him help me to my feet. "Sirius hates him."

Regulus laughed. "The feeling is mutual, trust me."

I laughed. "I can imagine."

He handed me my broom and then took up his own. "Let's just fly around a few times to get warmed up, okay?"

"Sounds good," I agreed and mounted my broom before I took off. He was right behind me, and soon he had reached my level and we flew side by side, laughing as the wind whipped into our faces and chilled us. After a few laps, we descended back to the ground.

"Fun," he said with a teasing smile.

I laughed and fixed my ponytail. "What's next, Coach?"

"I could teach you how to do that dive that you tried during the Ravenclaw game," he said and then seemed to think better of it. "Or, well… I can understand if you wouldn't want to do that after everything that happened."

"That actually sounds great," I said. "I'd like to know how to improve my dives."

He seemed relieved. "Great. Let's get up in the air, then."

Once we were up in the air, he went over the dive step by step. He told me what I had done wrong during my dive and told me how I could make the corrections to get the dive down.

"Care to show me?" I asked once he had explained everything to me. "I'm more of a visual learner."

He rolled his eyes at me, but then steered his broom towards the ground below, speeding. His jacket flew out behind him, and I saw why James would have been scared at me diving like that. It really looked like he was just _trying _to hit the ground.

And then, just as I thought he was going to hit the ground, he pulled out of the dive, leveled out, and shot back up into the air. In no time at all, he had drawn level with me again and he was smiling at me as we idled there. "Well?"

"I'm still not quite sure how you did that," I admitted. "I mean, I understand dives and I remember everything that you just told me, but how do you _know_ that you're pulling up at the right time."

There was no hesitation. "You're an amazing flyer, Jen. You'll know."

"I didn't know before," I reminded him.

"You did," he disagreed. "You just didn't listen to the little voice in your head that was telling you to pull out of the dive. Just let it all come naturally and you'll be fine; I promise."

I stared down at the ground far below me and then looked back at him. "Can you walk me through it one more time?"

He laughed. "I thought you were a visual learner?"

I smiled. "I'll take that back. Just walk me through it."

He did. Two more times.

"I'm still not sure…" I said. I couldn't remember a whole lot from the day that I had hit the ground and woken up much later, but I did remember seeing the ground. And all of a sudden, everything had been black. I was terrified of that happening again.

"Jen."

I looked up at him, into his fathomless dark eyes.

"You can do this," he told me. "I know that you're scared of crashing, and that's a very real fear, but you're going to have to trust me on this, okay? I wouldn't be telling you to do this if I didn't think that you were ready. Can you trust me on this?"

I took a deep breath and then nodded.

"Dive," he whispered.

I took another deep breath and then went into a dive.

_You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it._ My brain was chanting those words over and over again; a mantra.

The ground was getting nearer and nearer.

The wind was whipping against my face, stinging my skin.

But I kept going, determined to get this right.

I _had_ to get this right.

_You're an amazing flyer, Jen_.

The ground was getting a bit too close for comfort, and still I sped on.

_You'll know._

_NOW!_

I pulled up on my broom right before I thought that I was going to hit the ground and my toes skimmed the frosty ground right before I pulled up.

As I ascended towards the gray sky, I let out a long cheer.

I had made it.

I was a champion.


	36. Chapter 36

~James' POV~

"I've never been a fan of chess. Wizard's or otherwise."

Lily laughed. "You just don't like losing."

"No," I defended, even though it was quite true. I couldn't _stand_ to lose, even at a very young age. "I just don't really like chess."

"Yeah," she said and moved a piece. "It's a game of wits. Checkmate."

I sighed. "Can't we play something else?"

"What?" she asked. "Like Quidditch?"

"I can't really picture you playing Quidditch," I told her honestly. Every time that I tried, it made me want to laugh. Lily didn't have the mentality of an athlete. She wouldn't be able to run into people to try to knock them off of their brooms. "I still remember you in our first flying lesson." That memory always made me smile, as a matter of fact.

"Don't," she groaned, but of course I had to.

"You were so nervous and shaking so hard that your broom looked like it was having a seizure," I reminded her, though I doubted that she needed to be reminded.

"Stop," she pleaded.

I smiled at her. "It's okay; I'll be a good enough flyer for the both of us."

Her parents walked into the room then.

"We're going to your Aunt Myrtle's," Mrs. Evans told Lily. "Petunia and Vernon are going with us. Would you like to go?"

"No, thanks," Lily said immediately.

"You're sure?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Alright." Her father smiled at me. "See you two later."

"Bye, Mr. Evans."

"Bye, Mum. Bye, Dad."

They left and Lily let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness we didn't have to go to my Aunt Myrtle's."

I grinned at her. "Why? What's so bad about your Aunt Myrtle?"

"Where do I even _begin_?" she asked as she set up her chess pieces. "She pinches cheeks, first of all, which would be alright if I was two, but I'm not. And she has this horribly annoying laugh, which wouldn't be so terrible if she didn't find _everything_ funny. Oh, and her house always smells like a mixture of old lady perfume and something dead in the vents."

"Wow," I laughed. "Glad we dodged that one."

"You can go first this time," she offered. "Not that it'll make that much of a difference."

"Hey," I said defensively as I moved a pawn. "I was doing just fine last time, thanks."

"Yeah, and then you made your second move."

I faked anger. "That was just rude."

She laughed and shrugged.

And of course she won.

Again.

"Chess is boring," I muttered.

"I don't think you'd find it boring if you could win."

"Maybe," I said. "But we'll never know. I've only played chess with you and Jen, and neither of you had the decency to let me win."

She laughed and put the chessboard away. "Your sister and I should play sometime."

"Oh, that would be a good match," I agreed. They were both very smart and strategic. The game would probably take hours. "I'm not quite sure who would win."

"Who would you root for?" she asked me with a teasing smile.

I shrugged. "Whoever won."

She rolled her eyes and put the chessboard back where it went. The Evans' house was very neat, though they didn't have a house elf to keep everything that way for them. They were just an organized bunch.

"So," she asked as she walked back towards where I was sitting on the couch. "What did you want to do now, since chess is obviously off of the table?"

"I don't know," I said thoughtfully.

"We could work on your strategies for the game," she suggested. "So that maybe you won't lose so badly next time."

I grinned shamelessly at her and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards me so quickly that she fell on top of me. "You know, there _is_ something that I want to work on."

She blushed.

I chuckled and pulled her closer for a kiss.

~Jen's POV~

"Jen!"

I looked over at Madame Prince and smiled. "Hello, Madame Prince. Sorry that I came in so late, but I-"

She waved me over frantically. "I have something to show you!"

Confused, I walked over to her and let her lead me to a secluded corner. There was a record player set up there, along with stacks and stacks of records sitting beside it. I stared at it, unsure of what I was supposed to do.

"Isn't it wonderful?!" she said dreamily.

"Um…yeah."

"I knew you'd think so!" she said happily. "You can look through them, if you like. I have to get going, but you'll be fine here alone, right?"

That was actually perfect. "Yes, I'll be fine."

She gave me one last smile and then left.

"A record player," I muttered as I set my bag down at my feet. "Really?" But, of course, curiosity got the better of me and I had to go see what records she had available.

There were all kinds, by all artists.

One that I found was supposed to be a classical music dance album, apparently, and I just had to hear what was going on with that. I mean, come on, anyone in my position would have done the exact same thing.

So, I put the record on and then listened as it started playing.

I didn't recognize the first song at all.

Or the second.

Or the third.

But I recognized the fourth and I smiled in delight. It was a song that my dad had used to listen to. Once, he had even danced with me to the song, swinging me around because I was too little at the time to dance properly. But, he'd talked out the steps to me and tried to teach me how to dance.

I couldn't help but dance along with the record.

One, two, three. One, two, three.

It was a faster song, one with a happier beat, and I couldn't help but smile as I moved along with it.

And then, suddenly, a pair of strong arms was around me and I had a dancing partner.

Regulus.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as my smile widened.

He smiled back at me. "I always sneak into the library late at night. It's when I get all of my homework done."

"Nighttime is for sleeping," I informed him like it was the universe's most precious secret. "When do you sleep?"

"I don't get a lot of sleep," he answered me. "I have to keep a potion with me at all times so that I don't fall asleep in class."

"Why don't you sleep?" I couldn't imagine a life where I didn't go to bed early and get plenty of sleep. Sometimes, it was a serious internal struggle to leave my bed in the mornings.

He shrugged and pulled me a little closer, wrapping his arms even more tightly around me. "Well, I don't know. I guess it's my dreams."

"What about them?" I wondered.

"They're… not comforting," he responded. "I haven't had a good dream in a long time."

"There's a potion for that." What kind of dreams could he have that would be so scary that he would avoid sleep as much as possible? "To make your sleep dreamless."

"I know," he responded, still easily moving us to the music. "I've tried making it a few times, but it never quite works out. I'm not that skilled of a Potion maker."

"I could teach you," I offered. "I mean, if you want me to watch you make it and tell you what you're doing wrong."

"Thanks," he responded softly.

The song changed to an even slower one and as we swayed together, I couldn't help but think that I liked the feel of his arms around me. He held me gently, but his hands were firm on my back. His breath smelled of mint. His hair looked so soft that I wanted to reach out and run my fingers through it.

"How'd you get in here?" he asked me.

"I didn't break in like you, if that's what you were wondering," I answered with a smile. "Madame Prince told me that I could stay late."

"Hmm…" he said.

In a move that was more instinct than anything else, I stepped closer to him and rested my head on his chest. He stiffened momentarily, but quickly relaxed and continued to move us slowly. He was impossibly warm and I wanted to stay that way forever, with him holding me and his heart beating right under my ear.

The music finally stopped and as I started to step back, I found that Regulus' face was extremely close to mine.

_He's going to kiss me…_

And though he looked like he wanted to, he stepped away from me and gave me a small smile. "It was nice seeing you, Jen, but I should leave you alone now."

"Okay," I said, disappointed.

"Good night," he said softly and turned and left.

"Good night," I whispered to his back.

_You're flirting with danger, Jen…_


	37. Chapter 37

~Jen's POV~

"Why are we doing this in here?" Regulus asked me.

I looked around at the cold tile floor, the peeling paint on the walls, and the occasional puddles of water. Moaning Myrtle was, thankfully, absent. "Because no one ever comes in here."

"Most of the castle is empty," he pointed out. "We could have gone anywhere."

"Better safe than sorry," I said as I spread the ingredients out.

"Marauder saying?" he asked with a teasing smile.

I smiled back at him. "Something like that. Do you have the book?"

"I assumed that you'd have this potion memorized," he said as he took the book out of his bag.

"I do," I shrugged as I automatically opened the book to the correct page. "But _you_ don't. Okay, read the instructions out loud."

He did as I'd asked him, his voice smooth and even.

"Now start," I told him. "And I'll correct you if you do something wrong."

He nodded and read over the first instruction again. "Okay, so I have to chop these into _very_ small pieces."

I nodded. "Get to it."

He smiled at me. "Any chance that you'll help me?"

"Sorry," I said with a grin as I settled back against the wall with a book. "I'm just the instructor."

By the time that he had acceptably cut up the roots, I was done with the first chapter of my book. I read another chapter while he slowly mixed in the water and stirred counterclockwise, then clockwise, then counterclockwise again.

"I think this is where I messed up all of the times before," he told me and read the next instruction out loud. "I think I might have rushed it too much."

"Probably," I agreed. "Here, we'll do it together."

I helped him with that part of the potion and then I went back to my spot along the wall, letting him do the rest by himself.

He came and sat next to me, his back against the wall, our legs just barely brushing. "Now it has to simmer for an hour," he told me. "It should be ready by the time I want to go to bed."

I understood what he was doing.

He was giving me a way out because he thought that I was uncomfortable spending time with him.

I closed my book and put it in my bag before I looked back over at him. "Well, then maybe you'll actually be able to get some sleep tonight."

He appeared to be slightly surprised that I hadn't taken his offer out, but he quickly masked it with a small smile that looked a lot like Sirius'. "I hope so. It'll be nice to actually be glad to go to sleep."

"What do you dream about that's so horrible?" I didn't know if I was crossing the lines by asking, but my curious side made it too hard to keep the question inside.

He was looking straight ahead, right at the opposite wall. At first, I didn't think that he was going to answer me, but then, he did, in a voice so soft that I had to strain to hear him. "Different things. Sometimes, I dream that I'm trapped in a windowless room with all of these Slytherins and I keep asking for the door, but no one will let me out because they say that there's a job that I have to get done and that I can never leave. Sometimes, I sit back and watch horrible things happen and don't try to do anything to stop it or help them. Sometimes, I dream that Death Eaters come for me and I can't run fast enough or my wand won't work when I try to fight them."

He trailed off, but I got the point. He'd had a lot of horrible dreams. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "You don't need to be sorry. They're just dreams."

"The thing about dreams is: they can feel just like reality. It's like a simulation; you can't be hurt, but you don't know that at the time," I said sagely. "So the fear that you feel from a bad dream is a completely natural reaction. Perfectly reasonable."

He laughed and looked over at me. "I had no idea that Hogwarts offered Psychology."

"I teach it, actually," I told him with mock sincerity. "It's a special class, though; only special people can elect to take it."

"It sounds very interesting," he replied.

"I've always found psychology interesting," I said and then blushed. "I mean…"

"There's nothing wrong with that," he told me. "People are into different things. And psychology seems genuinely interesting. There's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I've just never told anyone that before," I admitted. "I mean, it's kind of weird for a witch to be into Muggle subjects."

"It's not _just_ a Muggle subject," he disagreed. "We have brains, too. We have psychological reactions to things just like they do."

I smiled at him. "I'm so glad to hear you say that."

He sighed and rested his head against the wall, eyes closed. "What do you think dreams are all about, Dr. Jen?"

I thought for a moment before I replied. "Dreams are like a reflection of our inner desires. Some we know about and some we don't. And a lot of experts agree that objects or people in our dreams are like symbols for things that are going to happen in the future."

"I didn't ask what a lot of experts agree on," he told me. "I asked what _you_ thought."

"I think that dreams are sometimes a reflection of inner desires," I repeated. "And that it's your brain's way of telling you what you want."

He opened his eyes and looked at me intensely, as if he would be having a quiz later on the exact color of my eyes or the small scar near my left temple. "And what is it that you dream about at night, Jennifer Potter?"

I had never liked the sound of my full name, but when he said it… It sounded okay. Better than okay, actually. It sounded as if he'd been saying my name for years and years; like he'd always wanted to say my name like that – with that much intensity.

"I…" I struggled over what to tell him. "I don't know. I don't remember a lot of my dreams."

"And why do you think that is?"

I shrugged. Never had I felt so pressured to give a right answer, even in the O.W.L.s. "Maybe because your subconscious knows that you aren't ready to process that information yet."

"Maybe," he mused with a small smile, much of the intensity gone, though I could still see some of it in his dark eyes. "You know, if the whole witch thing doesn't work out, you should pursue a future in psychology."

I laughed, relaxing. "I'll take that into consideration."

We fell into a comfortable silence and I thought about everything that he had said and everything that I had said in reply. James didn't even know that I was into psychology, but I had been pouring out all of my knowledge and fascination to Regulus like I'd known him for years. Why?

He was easy to talk to, yes, but I had a feeling that there was another reason. Something else was there that I couldn't quite get a grasp on and it was frustrating me. I was the type of person that _needed_ to understand things. I _needed_ to have control of everything that was going on in my life.

So why did I feel completely comfortable being with Regulus when it often felt like I was losing control of myself?

Why was it so easy for me to talk to him and be around him?

"Jen?" Regulus touched my arm and I wondered how long he had been trying to get my attention. "I think the potion's ready."

I stood up, blushing, and walked over to the cauldron. Sure enough, the potion was the exact color that it should be.

"Perfect," I proclaimed, looking at him with a smile. "I thought you said that you weren't very good at Potions?"

He smiled back at me. "I'm sure I wouldn't have done so well if I didn't have such a good instructor." He knelt down to grab the vials out of his bag. "I should have enough for two months, right?"

"Right," I agreed. "And you should take them about an hour before you plan to go to sleep."

He nodded and continued to scoop the potion into vials. "I might not need coffee anymore now."

"Or the energy potion," I added.

"Or that," he agreed.

Once he had finished ladling out all of the potion, I waved my wand to wash the cauldron and then he gathered it up into his arms. "Thanks for helping me, Jen."

"Anytime," I said, and the scary thing was that I meant it.

"I might take you up on that," he told me and then gestured for me to exit ahead of him.


	38. Chapter 38

~Jen's POV~

I swear, my conscience was one step away from jumping out of my head and dragging me back to my dorm room. Once there, it would probably tie me to my bed and refuse to let me leave for the rest of the holidays. As it was, it was giving me an awful headache with all of the yelling that it was doing.

I found Regulus in the library, reading a book about the history of the Ministry of Magic. I'd never known that he was such an avid reader, but I found it to be a very endearing trait. "Regulus."

He looked up from his book and smiled at me. "Hey, Jen."

My conscience finally stopped yelling, probably having decided that I wasn't going to listen, anyway. "Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?"

The surprise on his face made me want to laugh out loud. "Dumbledore approved a trip to Hogsmeade?"

"No," I said with a roll of my eyes.

"Oh, so we're just going to sneak out of the castle and hope that no one sees us?"

Actually, we could have done that if I had chosen to use the invisibility Cloak that James had left behind for me. But, that wasn't the way that I wanted to go; it was far too cold outside for that. "No. I mean, really, I'm the sister of the infamous James Potter. You think I can't get us out of the castle and into Hogsmeade?"

He smiled and shut the book. "Alright, then. Let me go get changed first, though. It's cold outside."

I nodded. "You know the statue of the one-eyed witch?"

Confused, he nodded. "Yes, I know the one."

"Meet me there whenever you're ready."

"But how is that-" he sighed. "You know what? Never mind. I'll see you there."

I smiled and nodded before heading off. I was already dressed for the trip, wearing jeans, a nice red sweater, and a black jacket. My black hair was wavy, my makeup fairly neutral, and I had the map with me.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," I said as I approached the statue.

There were people in the castle, but no one was around where I stood. No where even close, actually.

And Regulus was on his way.

"Mischief managed," I told the map and all of the ink disappeared, turning it back into plain, unstained parchment.

Regulus appeared a few minutes later, dressed in jeans and a black hoodie. "Okay," he said. "I'm here. Work your magic."

I tapped the witch's hump with my wand and said, "_Dissendium!"_

At once, the statue's hump opened wide enough to admit people close to mine and Regulus' size. I smiled as I stepped back and gestured for Regulus to go first. "After you."

He was looking at me in astonishment. "How in the world did you manage to-"

"Can't tell you," I interrupted and winked at him. "It's a secret."

He shrugged and hoisted himself up into the hole headfirst, pushing himself forward. I followed behind, remembering the first time that James had shown me the tunnel. I hadn't believed him when he'd said that it would take me to Hogsmeade. But, it had, and that's how I'd ended up being the only second year student that got to go to Hogsmeade.

We slid down the stone slide and then landed on cold, damp earth. Both of us stood up and Regulus looked to me to lead the way.

"_Lumos,"_ I said and my wand lit up the narrow, low, earthy passageway.

Regulus did the same with his wand. "Where does this lead?"

"Right into the cellar of Honeydukes."

"You sure?" he asked.

"I've used it loads of times," I informed him as I began walking. He fell into step behind me. "James showed it to me second year."

"I feel honored to be privileged with this secret," he said sincerely.

I laughed. "You should."

The passage twisted and turned, kind of like the burrow of a giant rabbit, I liked to say. I had often joked that this was where Remus' "furry little problem" lived. Regulus stumbled a couple of times, but I was surefooted, seeing as how I had traveled this passageway in all sorts of conditions.

It took a while to reach our destination, but Regulus was very patient and once the passage began to rise, he said, "Are we getting close?"

"Very," I said as I sped up.

About ten minutes later, we came to the feet of the stone steps that rose out of sight. Careful not to make any noise, we climbed them. There were at least two hundred steps (Remus had counted them once before, but I had long since forgotten the result), but Regulus climbed them stoically.

Finally, we reached the trapdoor and I got us into Honeydukes.

"You," he laughed, "are amazing."

"Thanks," I said with a smile. Honeydukes was crowded with Christmas shoppers, so we weren't going to be noticed. "Let's buy some candy and then go somewhere that isn't so crowded."

"Deal," he said.

I got some creamy nougat, Ice Mice, and some jellybeans. Regulus got some chocolate and some Jelly Slugs, along with a few Sugar Quills. After we had paid, we left the store and found ourselves out on the cold street.

"Where to?" he asked me.

I grinned wickedly and pointed at the Three Broomsticks. "Let's see if we can get a table in there."

He nodded his agreement and we went inside.

The air was warm and the place was crowded, but we still managed to get a small table in a secluded corner. None of the regular workers were there (they had probably gone home over the holidays), so Regulus and I got away with ordering Firewhiskey.

Though he hadn't objected when I ordered it, after the woman was gone, he asked me, "What are we going to do with a whole bottle of Firewhiskey?"

I waved his concern away. "We'll have a couple of drinks, and then I'll give the rest to James or Sirius. They love that stuff."

He still looked unsure.

"Relax," I said with a laugh.

The woman returned with the bottle and two glasses and after I had paid her, she left.

I poured some for Regulus and then some for me. "Do you want to make the toast, or shall I?"

He still looked nervous; he was staring at the liquid in the glass as if it were pure, unadulterated sin. "I'm not so sure that we should be drinking this."

"You've never had Firewhiskey before?"

"I have…" he said and then looked at me. "But you-"

It was then that I realized that he was only concerned for _me_. He didn't think that _I_ could handle it. And, of course, I had to prove him wrong. "Trust me, I've had Firewhiskey before." Just to make my point, I downed the shot. "See?" It burned on the way down, but my face gave nothing away.

He appeared slightly astonished, but downed his shot anyway.

"That's the spirit!" I cheered and poured us both another shot, which we both downed.

"I think that's enough," he said after the third shot.

I shrugged and just poured some for myself this time.

"Jen…" he sounded a little nervous.

I laughed as the colors of the room began to blur together. I'd never really had a very good tolerance of alcohol, even though I had tried to build it up before. James and Sirius were the ones with the tolerance for alcohol. Remus could handle some, like me, but not a lot. And Peter… well… Peter couldn't handle alcohol at all.

"Jen." Regulus was suddenly gripping my hand and yanking the bottle away from me. "Jen, stop."

Confused, head spinning, I reached for the bottle. "Give it back…"

"No," he said firmly.

My vision cleared just enough for me to see his face, his dark eyes, his high cheekbones and perfect hair. And his lips…

Suddenly, my lips were on his and I was kissing him.

Or trying to.

"Jen." He pulled away quickly, seeming utterly baffled. "Jen, no."

"You don't like me?" I asked, tears in my eyes. "Don't you think I'm pretty?"

"I…"

I tried to kiss him again but he gripped my wrist and firmly set me away. "No, Jen. You're drunk."

"No," I protested, even though I was wobbly on my feet. "I'm not."

"You are," he said softly and steered me so that I could sit down. "I'm going to go dump this and then I'll be back for you, okay? Don't move."

I'd only been trying to impress him. Turns out, it was useless. He didn't like me like that. He probably thought I was a silly, foolish girl.

As promised, Regulus came back and helped me to my feet. "Come on; let's get you back to the castle. Is there another passageway that we can take?"

With a slurred voice, I told him about the one in the Shrieking Shack and then we were off.


	39. Chapter 39

~Jen's POV~

My conscience didn't even give me a grace period.

As soon as I began to stir, it began to scream at me, telling me how stupid I was for getting drunk and sneaking out of school. And especially for sneaking out of school with Regulus Black.

I moaned as I rolled over and pulled the covers up more tightly, burrowing into the warmth. Still, though, the yelling persisted. Oddly enough, the voice sounded just like James' when he was mad. Go figure.

"Jen?"

Oh, great. James was here and he was going to yell at me and-

"Jen." A warm hand touched my face, brushing my bangs away.

My eyes fluttered open and I groaned when the light hit them. "Something is inside my skull," I moaned. "And I think it wants out. It's going to break my head wide open."

A chuckle. "I have heard that drinking can have that type of effect."

Regulus.

I stared up at him, confused. "What are you doing in my room?"

"You're in _my_ room," he corrected me. "You couldn't remember the password to yours."

I tried to remember the password, but nothing came up except for the excruciating pain that I felt. "I don't remember…"

"You had too much Firewhiskey," he said gently. "It was a rough night."

I could only imagine. "What happened?"

"You were coherent long enough to get us back to Hogwarts," he said. "Through the passage that comes out under the Whomping Willow."

I put a hand to my head, trying to quell the pounding. "Go on."

"I managed to get us into the castle without being seen," he continued. "But when we got up to Gryffindor Tower, you couldn't remember the password." A small smile of amusement graced his lips. "You actually almost got into a shouting match with the Fat Lady."

"Fantastic," I grumbled. Why did I have to be such a stupid drunk?

"It was pretty amusing," he agreed with a small chuckle.

"What happened then?" I asked, needing to know. If I didn't know, then I would live my life in fear of what I had done. Better to get it all out into the open.

"Well, then I carried you down here." He paused as he considered something, and then said, "The Slytherin dorms are-"

"In the dungeons," I interrupted as everything started to come back to me. "That's why the light is tinted green. It's from the lake water." I had thought that something was just wrong with my vision, but things were growing clearer by the minute. Of course, my headache was also growing stronger.

He looked surprised, but then he smiled. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You know everything. Yes, the Slytherin dorms are in the dungeons. Anyway, I carried you here and put you in my bed. I slept right there." He pointed to the bed next to his. "You threw up a few times, but it wasn't anything too major. I tried to get you to drink water so that you wouldn't be too dehydrated, but you adamantly informed me that water was for sissies and that you wanted Firewhiskey."

I groaned. "Please tell me it doesn't get any worse."

"That's about it," he said and handed me a glass of water. "Here."

I tried to sit up and cried out in pain.

"Easy!" Regulus exclaimed and slid his arms around me to steady me. With one arm still around me, he used the other one to position the pillows behind my back. "I don't think that sudden movements are very wise right now."

"Nope," I agreed and took the water from him, gratefully gulping it to ease the burning in my throat. "Damn Firewhiskey."

He laughed. "It's not the Firewhiskey's fault. You're the one that kept drinking it."

"Hey," I said defensively. "Just let me have this one."

He shrugged. "Fine, fine. Damn Firewhiskey."

"Very good," I approved.

"Are you hungry?" he asked me, but he looked like he already knew the answer.

Thinking of food made my stomach churn unpleasantly. "Ew," I said. "No."

He nodded as if he'd been expecting that. "Okay, then, I guess you're on bed rest for the day. You should probably try to sleep it off."

"There's a potion," I mumbled, setting the glass aside. "A potion that helps to get rid of the hangover."

"Do you want me to go ask Madame Pomfrey for it?" he asked with an amused twinkle in his eye. "Or did you want me to ask Professor Slughorn to brew you some?"

"Don't be dumb," I said. "You can make it."

"I don't have any idea where I would find a hangover potion," he said. "Which book would that be in?"

"There's one in the library…" I told him the title.

He nodded. "I'll get started."

"It takes a few hours to make properly," I said. "I told your brother that when he asked me for some once. I told him that he needed to be more sober and learn to control his drinking."

"Well," he said slowly. "I'm sure that Sirius drinks a lot more frequently than you do."

"He gets drunk at every after party," I agreed and then sighed, closing my eyes to try to fight the headache, though it didn't improve anything. "I never get drunk."

"You did last night," he reminded me and then stood up. "Okay, I'll go get started on that potion and I'll be back in a few hours. Try to get some sleep."

He helped me settle back under the warm covers that smelled exactly like him. "I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep with this headache."

"You'll have to try," he said as he settled the pillows under my head.

"I guess," I said and groaned. "Thanks for doing all of this. You really don't have to."

He opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it, and shut it again. Then, he just said, "It's no problem. Get some rest." And then he left.

A couple of weeks ago, I would have been freaked out to find myself in the Slytherin dorms. I mean, that was ultimately enemy territory. But, I knew that there weren't any Slytherins (other than Regulus) that had stayed for the break, so I felt pretty safe. Besides, Regulus wouldn't let anything happen to me; I didn't know why I was so sure of that, but I was.

And then, suddenly, I remembered flashes of the night before, right before I had gotten too drunk to remember anything else.

"_Jen." Regulus was suddenly gripping my hand and yanking the bottle away from me. "Jen, stop."_

_Confused, head spinning, I reached for the bottle. "Give it back…"_

"_No," he said firmly._

_My vision cleared just enough for me to see his face, his dark eyes, his high cheekbones and perfect hair. And his lips…_

_Suddenly, my lips were on his and I was kissing him._

_Or trying to._

"_Jen." He pulled away quickly, seeming utterly baffled. "Jen, no."_

"_You don't like me?" I asked, tears in my eyes. "Don't you think I'm pretty?"_

"_I…"_

_I tried to kiss him again but he gripped my wrist and firmly set me away. "No, Jen. You're drunk."_

"_No," I protested, even though I was wobbly on my feet. "I'm not."_

"_You are," he said softly and steered me so that I could sit down. "I'm going to go dump this and then I'll be back for you, okay? Don't move."_

Oh… No…

"No," I ground out loud. "No."

I had _kissed_ Regulus?! While drunk?! And he had pulled away?!

My head hurt worse than ever and I wished that I could find some way to turn myself invisible or something. I never wanted to have to face him ever again.

And he hadn't mentioned it in his review of the night!

I tried to sleep, but my mind kept playing that moment over and over and over again. And each time, it made me feel sick.

Regulus finally came back, holding a steaming cup of shiny silver liquid. "I did it," he proclaimed as he sat on the edge of the bed and handed the cup to me. "Quite well, if I do say so myself."

Avoiding meeting his eyes, I took the cup from him and took a sip. "Yeah," I said. "It tastes right."

"Good," he said.

_I kissed you last night. I kissed you last night. I kissed you last night._

_And you pushed me away…_

"Well," he said good naturedly. "You're getting your color back."

I drank some more.

"And it's Christmas Eve."

I looked up at him in surprise and felt a pang when I saw his smile. _You pushed me away._ "It is?"

His smile widened and he nodded. "Yeah. Surprising, huh? Time flies."

"It sure does." _You pushed me away…_

I finished the drink and handed the cup back to him. "Thanks for everything."

He seemed confused. "You're leaving?"

"Yes," I replied and got out of bed, slipping on my shoes before I quickly walked out of the room.


	40. Chapter 40

~James' POV~

Flying, flying, flying… A defender popped up, but I went right around him and headed for the goal. And then, suddenly, I was sitting in a classroom and Jen was the teacher. She was asking me what was wrong with her, pointing to the problem on the board, which read: _What is wrong with Jen?_ I kept trying to think of the answer, but nothing would come to me. Jen kept telling me to think, that I knew the answer, but I couldn't say anything. I didn't know. And then, she fell away into the blackness. I called out for her, but…

"James."

That wasn't Jen's voice. Where was Jen?

"James."

Lily. It was Lily's voice. And it was all a dream and she was waking me up. There was nothing wrong with Jen.

"James!"

I groaned and slowly opened my eyes, blinking a few times to clear my vision. "Lily."

"Finally!" she said, slightly exasperated. "I've been trying to wake you up for a whole minute now!"

"A whole minute?" I asked, the sarcasm evident in my voice. "Wow. The Quidditch World Cup has been won in less. How ridiculous."

She lightly punched my arm. "Come on, James. It's Christmas!"

I vaguely remembered spending Christmas Eve with her family, sipping eggnog and listening to Christmas songs on the radio. Petunia and Vernon had been there, studiously avoiding us, but I hadn't cared because Lily had been there the whole evening, holding my hand and singing along (a bit off-key) to the songs. "Oh," I said. "So it is."

She rolled her eyes. "Get up and get dressed so we can go open presents!"

"Okay, okay," I said and threw the covers back.

"I'll go make sure everyone else is up!" she said and dashed out of the room.

I couldn't help but smile. She was just so beautiful to watch, acting like a little kid. Jen had used to be the one to make sure that everyone was up on Christmas morning.

Jen…

My dream came back to me and I wondered if there had been something to it. Was there something wrong with her? Had something happened?

I finished pulling the sweater over my head and sighed. My owl was resting peacefully in the cage, but I woke it up after I had written a short letter. "This letter and this package go to Jen," I said.

It hooted and then took off.

"James!" Lily threw open the door to my room. "Why are you just standing there?! Come on!"

I laughed. "I had no idea that you were so into Christmas."

"Oh, I _adore_ Christmas!" she informed me. "I absolutely _love_ it!"

"I can see that."

She rolled her eyes and pulled me down the stairs.

In the living room, her whole family was waiting. Thankfully, though, Vernon was absent. Petunia seemed slightly less tense when he wasn't around. Everyone chorused out "Happy Christmas" and then seats were taken so that the present opening could begin.

Petunia, I found, gave the most boring gifts imaginable. Horrible sweaters, boring books, and the like.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans gave me a nice dress shirt and a tie, and I gave them some nice Muggle clothes that Lily had helped me pick out a few days earlier.

And Lily gave me a Quidditch book and some new flying shoes.

I gave her a necklace that she gasped at.

After the presents, we all had breakfast together and talked of happy things, as was apparently the Muggle tradition. I offered to do the dishes and it took me no time at all. In the living room, Christmas music was playing.

Everyone was happy.

Including Lily.

"This necklace," she said and fingered it where it lay around her neck. "It's beautiful, James."

"Jen helped me pick it out," I admitted, not wanting to take all of the credit. "I picked out the top three and she helped me pick the best one."

She smiled at me. "Well, you both did a very good job."

I reached out and gingerly fingered the chain. "It looks good on you." And it truly did, all sparkling and beautiful.

She seemed to glow with happiness. "I think that this has been the best Christmas I've ever had."

"Mine too." It certainly beat the Christmas that had ended with Dad's shirtsleeve on fire and the Christmas pudding all over me. _That_ had been disastrous.

She stepped closer to me and placed her hands on my chest. "Happy Christmas, James."

"Happy Christmas, Lily," I responded and leaned in to kiss her.

~Jen's POV~

I woke up to tapping on the window.

Turns out, it was James' owl.

I let it in and took the package and letter that it gave me, and then it flew off, leaving me to close the window behind it.

I opened the letter first and was confused when I read it. He was basically asking me if I was okay… and he didn't even wish me a happy Christmas until the very end of the letter. What was that about?

I wrote him a quick reply and then opened my present, which turned out to be a new book, some jellybeans, and a new Snitch for me to play with.

I dressed in jeans and a sweater, leaving my wavy hair down, and then grabbed the letter and present for him. In the Owlery, his own flew down to me, obviously sensing that I was going to send him back to his owner. Sometimes, it amazed me, what these owls could do. They always managed to find who I needed them to find and they had an uncanny sense of who the letter was for. It was truly amazing and though I had read some books on owls, I had never quite figured out how they did it.

"For James," I said. "As if you didn't already know that." And then I let him take off into the snowy sky.

I was almost back to Gryffindor Tower when I heard a voice calling my name.

Regulus.

_Oh no_.

I turned around.

"Hey," he said with a smile, stopping in front of me. "Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas," I replied, not looking at him. I knew that if I did, I would feel even more embarrassed about what had happened. About me kissing him and him pushing me away.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, obviously sensing that something was wrong. Hard not to.

"I'm fine," I lied.

His hand was suddenly under my chin, forcing it up so that I had to look at him. "Jen? What's wrong?"

I sighed. "Nothing."

Realization flashed on his face. "Oh. You're embarrassed about what happened when you got drunk."

Great, now we were going to talk about it.

And I was probably going to die of embarrassment.

And I didn't even have the time to write out a will.

"You don't need to be embarrassed, Jen," he told me. "Alcohol can make you do stupid things; I understand. That wasn't you."

But it _had _been me when I'd tried to kiss him. Or, at least, I was pretty sure that it had been. And he had pushed me away. "But I-"

He shook his head to cut me off. "It's not a big deal, okay? Forget about it."

But I needed some kind of consolation. Forcing myself to look into his eyes, I asked him, "Do you think I'm pretty?" I had asked him that the night that I had gotten drunk, right after I'd kissed him, but he hadn't ever answered me.

He was stunned, but then a kind of seriousness I hadn't really seen before came over him. "Jen," he said and reached out to brush the hair away from my face as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "I think you're beautiful."

"You do?" I had heard that from other girls and from guys, but hearing it from him was so much better.

He nodded. And then, the seriousness faded and he smiled, taking his hands away from my face even though I wished that he would keep them there. "I have a present for you."

"You do?" I asked, surprised. "But I didn't-"

"You didn't have to get me anything," he said, waving me away. "Besides, it's not all that much."

"But what-"

He produced a small box and when I opened it, I saw that it had all of my favorite candies in there. Ice Mice, Sugar Quills, jellybeans, creamy nougat… He must have paid attention to what I got when we were at Honeydukes.

"When did you get this?" I asked him after I thanked him.

He grinned at me. "I went back yesterday. The tunnel is much scarier when you're all alone, but I braved it just for you."

_And yet, you pushed me away…_ "Thanks."

"How about we go get some eggnog?" he asked me.

"Let me go put this up and I'll meet you there."


	41. Chapter 41

**I hope that everyone had a great Christmas and I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Thank you all so much for reading this and for the great reviews. Hope you enjoy this newest chapter.**

~Jen's POV~

I woke up the next morning and was blissfully unaware of everything for a few seconds. And then it all began to sink in and I sighed loudly, pained. Why in the world had I tried to kiss Regulus? I mean, sure, I'd been pretty drunk, but there had to be a reason beyond that. I mean, I hadn't tried to kiss the bartender, had I? No, it had been Regulus. His lips had been surprisingly soft and warm, though they hadn't moved with mine at all. He'd pulled back in shock.

_Why, Jen? Why did you do that?_

No answer from the other part of my brain. Regulus had acted well enough around me on Christmas, though. He'd given me candy as a present and then we'd gone to the kitchen and gotten some delicious eggnog. As we drank it, we talked about anything and everything: his new ability to sleep without dreams, our opinions on the professional Quidditch teams, our favorite classes…

Deciding that thinking about it wasn't going to do me any good, I got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. As I bathed, I tried to think about anything that wasn't Regulus Black. I thought about my parents and wondered how James was doing with Lily. Everything that he'd told me sounded good, so I figured that everything was fine. I was glad that he finally had the chance he'd been waiting for since first year. He and Lily were good for each other.

After I had dried myself off, I put on jeans and a T-shirt with a hoodie over it. My hair went up into a cute little bun that my roommates had taught me to do and I only put on a little bit of makeup. Then, I sat down and constructed a short letter to James, reassuring him that I was perfectly fine and asking him how things were going with Lily. After a few last pieces of advice, I sealed the letter and then headed to the Owlery.

Along the way, I couldn't help but feel that it was strange, the castle being so empty. Usually it was full of students, the babble of voices filling the corridors. People would be outside, rushing to their next class or taking a walk with a close friend. The silence was certainly strange, but Hogwarts still felt like home to me. Well, a second home. I was kind of partial to my first home.

As expected, it began to grow quite chilly when I reached the steps to the Owlery. My breath came out as a white mist and I slipped a couple of times on the icy steps. When I finally reached the top, it was hard to get the owl that I wanted to come down so that I could attach the letter to its leg. It had been nice and cozy up there, snuggled up with some friends. Finally, I got it to go, and I watched as it disappeared in the snowy sky.

Unable to bring myself to leave yet, I began to sing, figuring that I might as well practice, since at least _one_ of us needed to be good and it probably wouldn't be my partner.

"I hear the ticking of the clock, I'm lying here, the room's pitch dark." I was trying to be very careful with my pitch. "I wonder where you are tonight, no answer on the telephone. And the night goes by so very slow. Oh, I hope that it won't end, though, alone."

Normally, I didn't want to go on to the chorus because I was afraid there would be pitch problems when Skylar and I got together to sing it. But I kept going this time. "'Til now, I always got by on my own."

"I never really cared until I met you." Another voice had joined in with me, a male voice that blended perfectly with mine, and I whirled around to see Regulus. We both kept singing. "And now it chills me to the bone. How do I get you alone? How do I get you alone?"

He began to sing and I watched, observing everything from the gray sweater that he wore to the way that he leaned against the entrance to the ease with which he sang the words. His voice was beautiful, for a guy's. "You don't know how long I have wanted to touch your lips and hold you tight. Yeah, you don't know how long I have waited, and I was gonna tell you tonight."

I sang, "But the secret is still my own."

Then him, "Oh, and my love for you is still unknown."

Both of us: "Alone."

I held out a long note, and he followed, our voices perfect.

And then we sang the chorus together again. "'Til now, I always got by on my own. I never really cared until I met you. And now it chills me to the bone. How do I get you alone? How do I get you alone?"

"Alone," I sang, and he repeated the same word in a perfectly matched tone.

When we finally stopped, both of us a little breathless, I think we were both in awe. Me more so than him, though. He'd heard me sing before during school performances, but I'd never heard him before. I hadn't known that he could sing that well.

Finally, I tried to voice my thoughts. "I… I had no idea that you could sing like that."

"Like what?" he asked with a teasing voice. "So horribly?"

My mouth fell open. "Regulus, no. That was… you were… well, it was amazing."

He shrugged and pushed himself off of the wall before calling his owl down to him. It came much more quickly than mine had and he began tying a letter to its leg. "I've always liked to sing. Don't tell anyone, though."

"Your secret's safe with me," I said softly and watched him toss the owl out into the open air. "Why don't you want anyone to know?"

He turned, leaning back against the ledge of the open window. "Come on, Jen; think about it. A big, tough Slytherin that likes to sing? My reputation would be ruined."

"I sing," I said. "No one cares."

"It's different," he said honestly. "Don't you see that?"

I did, but I didn't want to admit it. "No."

He chuckled. "You're so stubborn."

"Get used to it." I leaned up against the ledge with him, the cold air now at my back instead of my front. "Why didn't you just join choir when you first got here?"

"You forget, Jen," he said and tucked a stray tendril of my hair behind my ear. "I didn't become a rebel until these last couple of years. Back then, I was all for whatever my parents wanted me to do."

"And then?" I wondered.

"And then I grew up and realized that if I didn't start making my own decisions, I would never be satisfied with my life. That I couldn't keep letting them control me like they were. But I still struggle sometimes…" His voice grew soft on this last part.

I touched his arm gently. "The best thing to do isn't always the easiest. I'm glad that you're trying, Regulus."

He put his hand over mine and gave me a small smile. "I'm glad we're friends, Jen."

"Me too."

We removed our hands at the same time and I distracted myself by staring up at the owls. We stood like that in silence for a long time, and I was the one that broke it. "You know, we sang really well together."

"We did," he agreed.

"You should be my partner for the duet competition."

The way that he looked at me was comparable to the way that Sirius had looked at me when I'd told him that I'd accidentally set fire to James' backside. Equal parts horror and fascination. "What?"

"Our voices blend well," I told him. "And mine and Skylar's… well… don't."

He shook his head. "I can't just join a singing competition, Jen. That wouldn't be good for either of us."

"We could _win_."

He smiled at me and sighed. "Jen…"

"Regulus," I matched. When I wanted something, I didn't back down. I couldn't just be brushed off.

He looked up, as if asking advice from heaven, and then looked back at me with a sigh of something like defeat. "I won't just go sign up for choir. _But_, if I am your _absolutely last_ option, then I will help you _only_ with that one competition."

I smiled and threw myself into his arms for a hug. "Yay! Thank you, Regulus!"

His arms came around me gently. "You're welcome, Jen."


	42. Chapter 42

~James' POV~

Jen had sent me a letter, telling me that everything was fine with her. But something about it was off. Like the way that she spent most of the letter asking about me and Lily. Almost like she was using that as a distraction. But what could possibly be wrong? Was she upset about her decision to stay at Hogwarts?

No, I didn't think that was it. It was something bigger, something more…

"James?" Lily asked hesitantly as she opened my door and peeked inside. "Are you all right?"

I sighed and set the letter aside. "I'm fine, Lily. Just worried about Jen."

"Oh." Lily came into the room and shut the door behind her. "She'll be fine at Hogwarts, James. We're actually at greater risk out here-"

"That's not what worries me," I interrupted and ran a hand through my hair. "It just… _feels_ like there's something wrong." I didn't know how to properly explain it, but I knew that something was up with Jen, just as I knew that she hated spinach and loved to sing.

She sat down beside me. "I wouldn't know about that. Petunia and I aren't close enough for that."

With a faint smile, I reached out and ran my fingers through her gorgeous, waving hair. "I know, and I'm sorry for that. You're right, though. She's safe at Hogwarts." And then I pulled her into my arms and kissed her, savoring every second that I got to show her how much I loved her.

~Jen's POV~

I woke up to tapping on my window.

Regulus and I had stayed in the Owlery for a few hours, working on the song some more, and then we'd gone down to the kitchen. After eating, we'd gone to the library to do some research and then went to Hogsmeade to mess around. We had a snowball fight and an impromptu game of hide and seek and we'd made it back to the castle at four in the morning. We'd gone to the kitchens again and had stayed up talking and laughing until nine.

I was surprised to find that it was seven in the evening. I'd only pulled all-nighters when Remus had been going through a transformation. I'd certainly never had that much fun.

The tapping persisted and I got out of bed to go to the window.

Regulus' owl was there, holding a small note in its beak. Hesitantly, I reached out and took it; the owl released it and promptly flew into my room to wait for me to read it.

_I know it's late; sorry. Hope you slept well. Care for a fly around at the Quidditch pitch?_

I couldn't help but smile. Spending time with Regulus… it was amazing. I was myself, he was himself, and we were both our true selves together. There's something very intimate about that. I grabbed a spare bit of parchment and scribbled a quick reply. _Love to. See you in twenty._

I gave that to the owl and it flew back out the window. Quickly, I changed into comfortable black pants and a T-shirt, normal Quidditch workout clothes for me. I pulled a hoodie on over it, washed my face and put on just a bit of makeup, and pulled my hair into a quick ponytail. Then, I grabbed my broom and left the room.

It was cold outside, but I didn't care in the least. Snow and ice crunched under my feet as I walked down towards the Quidditch pitch to meet Regulus.

He was already up in the air, flying in lazy circles around the goal posts. When he saw me, he flew closer and hovered a few feet away, his sneakers mere centimeters from grazing the snow. The grin that he shot me sent butterflies through my stomach. "Hey, Jen. Glad you could make it."

I swung my leg over my broom and kicked off into the air to hover in front of him. "Sure. Are we working that dive today?"

He glanced down at the ground. "Seems awfully convenient to work it tonight, doesn't it? With the snow on the ground for padding when you fall, that is."

This familiar banter between us completely relaxed me. "_When_ I fall? Come on, Black, you know better than that. I won't fall."

He shrugged and began to ascend, calling, "Prove it, Potter!"

I shot up with him until we were high enough, and then he looked at me expectantly. "Okay, then, it's a straight shot down to the ground. Remember-"

"I'll _know_ when to pull out of the dive," I finished. "Trust my instincts."

"Actually," he grinned, "I was going to say that there's plenty of snow to cushion your fall."

I shot him my best icy glare and then dove for the ground, the cold wind biting at my face. The dive ended perfectly and I flew back up to where he was, grinning triumphantly. "So?"

"So," he said. "Everyone gets lucky every now and then. Try it again. I'll go with you."

He did, and ended up beating me out of the dive, but I pulled it off, too. After a couple of more dives, he showed me another move of his.

"When do you have the time to invent these?" I asked him after we were done. "Between schoolwork and Quidditch practice and everything else."

"I make time." He cleared off some snow so that we could sit down. I helped by turning a sheet of ice into a blanket. "Doesn't everyone make time for the things that they love?"

"Sure," I shrugged and sat down next to him on the blanket. "It amazes me, though; how much different you are from what I thought you were."

"Rarely is anyone what we think they are from our first impression of them."

I laughed. "I never thought that 'wise' would be an accurate word to describe you."

He had been glancing up at the sky, but he looked back at me when I spoke and gave me a soft smile. "Look up at the sky."

I did. The stars were burning brightly.

Suddenly, his hand was on my chest and I gasped, looking at him in surprise as a blush spread over my cheeks.

"It's okay," he whispered. "Lay down."

I did and he laid beside me, pointing up at the sky. "That's the Big Dipper. And that's Orion's Belt. And that's-"

We'd all taken astronomy, of course, and I knew all of the visible constellations, but I didn't know their background stories like Regulus did. He told me tales from Greek mythology and legends older than the myths. And I listened, loving his deep, melodic voice.

"You have a nice storytelling voice," I informed him.

He chuckled and I felt his arm move against mine as he did so. "Thanks."

"Regulus?"

He turned his head so that his dark eyes could look into mine. "Yes?"

I felt stupid and childish, but I decided to ask anyway. "Will you sing something for me?"

"Like what?" he asked.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Any song."

"Wizard or Muggle?"

I smiled at him. "You know Muggle songs?"

"I like Muggle songs," he said and sighed. "I listen to them in secret."

"A lot's secret about your life, huh?"

"Tell me about it," he sighed. "Okay, I have one."

I continued to watch him, studying his artfully messy hair and the lines of his face. "I'm listening."

So he started to sing, his voice soft and lilting. "Wise men say only fools rush in; but I can't help falling in love with you. Shall I stay? Would it be a sin? If I can't help falling in love with you."

I'd heard the song before, though I couldn't remember who sang it. Whoever sang it, though, they didn't sing it as well as Regulus did.

"Like a river flows, surely to the sea, darling, so it goes: Some things are meant to be. Take my hand. Take my whole life, too. For I can't help falling in love with you."

Without really knowing what I was doing, I turned on my side and snuggled closer to Regulus, closer to his warmth. He stiffened, but then he relaxed and his arms wrapped around me, pulling me even closer. I breathed in the smell of him and waited for that annoying voice to tell me that I was wrong. But until it did, I was going to enjoy this.

After a few moments of silence, he continued to sing. "Like a river flows, surely to the sea, darling, so it goes: Some things are meant to be. Take my hand. Take my whole life, too. For I can't help falling in love with you."

It was a beautiful song with a beautiful message, and I wished that he meant it.

"For I can't help falling in love with you."

He finished singing and I breathed out a sigh against his chest.

We stayed like that for a long time afterwards.


	43. Chapter 43

~James' POV~

"Thank you so much for everything, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," I said graciously as I hugged Lily's mum and shook her father's hand.

"We enjoyed having you, James," her mother told me, smiling. I sensed that she genuinely meant that and I was glad.

"That we did," her father agreed and clapped my shoulder. "We look forward to seeing you both again soon, hmm?"

"Yes, sir," I said.

Lily hugged her parents tightly and then we headed off to the train together, dropping our luggage off before we boarded.

"They liked me," I informed her with a wide grin. "They actually liked me."

She laughed and linked her arm through mine. "Of course they did, James. Don't be silly."

"I just… I don't know," I sighed. "I was waiting for my stupid self to ruin something. But I didn't. Did I?"

"No," she affirmed. "They were very impressed." She pressed her lips quickly to my cheek. "And so was I."

"Good," I smiled. "Let's check in with the prefects and then we'll find a compartment. Your friends or mine?"

"Yours," she said quickly. "I'd like to get to know your friends better."

"Just don't believe anything Padfoot says."

She giggled.

We chose the prefects that were to patrol the train and then we went and found my friends.

"Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "And Evans!"

"Lily," I corrected him.

"Hi, Sirius," Lily said politely and then greeted Peter and Remus, who looked awful due to the fact that the full moon had only ended a few days earlier.

"So, how was your break, James?" Sirius asked me with a wink that I hoped Lily didn't see.

"Very pleasant, thank you," I said curtly, hoping that he got my message. "Lily's parents were simply wonderful. How about the rest of you?"

"As exciting as ever," Sirius said, grinning. "We had a hell of a time, didn't we?"

Peter, of course, agreed.

Remus nodded.

"Remus," Lily said. "You look dreadful. Are you ill?"

"I'll be all right," he said with a smile. "Thank you, Lily."

But Lily still seemed troubled. Remus and I exchanged glances that affirmed that we were thinking the same thing: Lily was smart enough to figure it out, if she chose to dig into it. We just both had to hope that she wouldn't.

I changed the subject. "Well, Lily has drawn up a studying schedule for herself and me. I'm sure she'd do the same for you all, if you'd like."

Sirius made a face. "Why in Merlin's name would we want to _study_? N.E.W.T.s are forever away."

"They are not," Lily said, affronted. "They're right around the corner!"

"The corner that's a thousand miles away, maybe!" Sirius argued back.

I rubbed a hand over my face. "Merlin's beard."

They continued to bicker back and forth, back and forth, until I was finally forced to start a conversation with Peter. As I had expected, it was all very dull, considering that he wouldn't start an argument with me, for fear that I would grow to resent him for it. And what good is a conversation if there's not at least a little dispute?

Finally, Lily and Sirius stopped their bickering and we all engaged in a conversation about our last semester at Hogwarts and what we wanted to do with our lives. We Marauders, of course, wanted to devote our time to killing the members of Voldemort's growing army. Lily was just as interested, though she wanted to have a backup plan, being the organized person that she was.

When the trolley lady came by, I bought snacks for all of us. Remus didn't eat much, which made Lily worried again, but Sirius managed to distract her with another argument. He had also picked up on what Remus and I were thinking, apparently. We were all fiercely dedicated to protecting Remus' secret, and unfortunately, Lily still had to be on the outside of it all until Remus chose to let her in.

As we came closer to Hogwarts, I found that my fears for Jen returned. I'd talked to Hale briefly, but he hadn't acted odd at all, so I had concluded that he hadn't upset her in any way. There was just something else wrong. But would she tell me or would I have to figure it out for myself? Why hadn't she already said something about it? Didn't she know that I would be there for her, no matter what?

Well, perhaps I would talk to the other Marauders later and see what they thought. They were all close to her as well, and maybe one of them would have an idea about what was wrong. Hopefully, I would be able to help her.

I didn't know what I would do if it turned out that I couldn't.

~Jen's POV~

I woke up the next morning, fully aware of what had happened the night before.

Regulus and I had gone down to the Quidditch pitch to fly around for a bit.

He'd impressed me with his astronomy and myth knowledge.

When he'd been singing to me, I had snuggled closer with him and we'd been locked in that embrace long after he'd stopped singing.

Finally, he'd insisted that we should get back to the school before we both caught a cold. He'd walked me up to Gryffindor Tower and then left to head back to his own room.

And I felt like a total idiot.

He didn't like me that way, so why was I throwing myself at him?

The answer scared me, so I chose to just stop thinking about it, even though I knew that wouldn't make it go away. I was hopelessly trapped in this Regulus entanglement.

I bathed and then dressed in jeans and a black blouse. I used magic to curl my hair and took my time with my makeup. What I needed was a distraction, and I was going to try everything that I could to get the perfect one. Not that I'd found one yet…

I was about to head to the library – there's no greater distraction than a good book – when an owl tapped at my window. Hale's owl, actually. Perhaps that would cause a distraction for me.

Once the owl had delivered its message, it flew away, to the Owlery.

Slowly, I opened the note and began to read.

_Jen-_

_I'm on the train now – though it hasn't taken off again – and I just wanted to tell you how excited I am to see you again. It feels like it's been months since I've seen you instead of just a few weeks. I don't know if it was the same for you, but these last few weeks have been torture for me. I've just been waiting until I could board the train and come back to Hogwarts to see you again. I've missed you. I guess I'll see you in a few hours. Don't bother coming out to greet me by the train; I wouldn't want you to catch a cold in this weather. I'll meet you in the common room._

_Love you,_

_Hale_

Tears built up in my eyes and I angrily tossed the letter aside. So much for a distraction. All that it had managed to do was upset me and make me feel incredibly guilty. Hale said that he'd been thinking about me a lot over the break… but I hadn't really been thinking about him all that much. I'd been having too much fun with Regulus.

The annoying voice in my head chose that moment to make an incredibly annoying reappearance. _Which is exactly why you shouldn't have been around Regulus in the first place. You're in a relationship, Jen! You had no business developing feelings for another guy. Hale is great; he'll be good to you. He's not involved in the nasty business that Regulus is. You'll be safe with Hale. Now stop being an idiot and explain to Regulus that you can't be around him anymore. You don't have to tell him face to face; you can just write him a note-_

"No," I growled to myself and stood up, beginning to pace.

It was true that I didn't have any business developing feelings for another guy when I was in a relationship and it was true that I had developed feelings for Regulus. I just wasn't totally sure what was to be done about those feelings, considering I'd never had feelings like that before. Would the feelings go away if I just left them alone long enough or would they always be there? Was there a way to make them stop or did they have to stop on their own? And what _were_ these feelings? How could they have developed without me noticing?

_Because you were stupid enough to think that being around Regulus wouldn't have any negative effects._

The rebuttal to this statement made a tear fall.

_When did I say that these feelings for Regulus were a negative thing?_


	44. Chapter 44

~Jen's POV~

I enjoyed my last few moments of having the room all to myself by reading _Wuthering Heights_, one of my top three favorite classics of all time. I was terribly in love with Heathcliff, whom I believed was a product of the abuse that he'd suffered at the hands of Hindley. Heathcliff wasn't the terrible person that everyone thought that he was – he was actually capable of an overwhelming love – but he acted like a terrible person to live up to everyone's expectations of him.

_Kind of like Regulus._

I shook the thought out of my head. If Regulus was Heathcliff, then who would be Cathy? And Edgar? No, _Wuthering Heights_ was just a story and it didn't apply to anybody at Hogwarts.

Cassie was the first person to bound into the room and before I could greet her, she had me wrapped up in a tight hug. "Jen, we all missed you so much! Oh, you should have been on the train! There was a fight between a Slytherin and a Hufflepuff and the Hufflepuff won! Of course, he was three years older than the Slytherin boy, but still, he-"

"Cass," Beth laughed. "Calm down."

"Good to see you, too," I breathed out when Cassie released me.

Beth came forward next for a hug and whispered into my ear, "Hale said he'll be waiting for you by the knights."

"Thanks," I whispered back and then moved to hug Emma and Kendra. We all sat down on our respective beds to talk about our Christmases and then I made the excuse that I needed to go see my other friends.

"Like Hale?" Emma asked with a teasing grin.

I rolled my eyes but felt myself blush. "No. Just… you know… everyone."

"Okay," Kendra said, her smile matching Emma's. "Tell _everyone_ we said hello."

"Will do," I muttered and left the room.

Somehow, I managed to make it through the common room without having to say hello to every single person. A few people stopped me, but other than that I made it away clear. Once I was outside, I began to make my way toward the hall of knights, where Beth had said that Hale would be waiting for me.

He was there, leaning up against the wall between two knights, dressed in jeans and a red sweater. His hair was messy and his eyes were as bright as his smile when he moved to pull me into his arms. "I missed you."

I willed myself to hug him back. He was my boyfriend, after all, there was nothing wrong with hugging and him. And as I hugged him, I tried not to think about Regulus' arms… "I missed you, too."

He pulled out of the hug and then kissed me, his lips eager against mine. It was obvious that he had been waiting for this a long time. I melted into the kiss and found that I was finally able to get Regulus out of my mind. So, basically, as long as Hale and I just kissed all of the time, Regulus wouldn't be a distraction.

Great.

When he finally pulled away, we were both breathless. He sighed and pulled me into his arms again, almost as if he never wanted to let me go. "Merlin, these last few weeks have nearly been torture. You should have accepted my invitation to meet my parents; we could have been together for the whole break."

_And I never would have gotten to know Regulus like I have…_

"That thought _has_ crossed my mind," I lied and smiled at him. "How were your parents?"

"Great," he responded and stroked some hair away from my face. "They can't wait to meet you."

"And I can't wait to meet them," I responded. "Are you supposed to be patrolling right now?"

He appeared only slightly abashed. "Yes, I am. But I wanted to see you first. Besides, this is technically patrolling, isn't it?"

I laughed. "I'm not sure. There aren't any students here, so I'm not sure that you can justify this as patrolling if you just stand here."

He kissed my cheek. "Most of the students are in their common rooms with their friends."

"And how would you know that?"

"Intuition," he responded and pecked my lips. "Was it terribly lonely in the castle, being here by yourself?"

"I wasn't by myself," I told him. "There were a few other students and several of the teachers stayed."

"But you didn't have me," he replied and kissed me again.

_I had Regulus…_

I scolded myself as I pressed closer to him and melted into his kiss.

~James' POV~

Lily was snuggled close to me on the couch, my arm was around her, and my best friends were sitting around, carrying on a conversation with us. It was perfect. Well… near perfect.

The only thing missing was my sister.

As if reading my mind, Sirius asked, "Where's Jen?"

"No clue," I answered. I had actually been expecting her to come and meet me at the platform and walk with me back to Hogwarts. She hadn't shown up, though, and I was growing more and more worried about her as time went on.

"I'm sure she's with her roommates," Remus reassured me.

"Or Hale," Lily supplied.

"I like the first option better," I admitted.

"Should we go and look for her?" Peter asked me.

"I will," I said and stood slowly. "You all can stay here and keep talking. I'll bring Jen back when I find her."

"We'll tell her that you're looking for her if she comes wandering through," Remus said.

I nodded. "Thanks. Be back in a bit." I kissed the top of Lily's head and then headed up the stairs to the dorm room. If I was going to find her, then I would be needing the map. The castle was too big for me to be able to find her without it.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," I said and tapped my wand against the parchment.

Slowly, ink began to fill it up until it was a perfect map.

But there were _so_ many people…

I went through her usual haunts first: the library, the Great Hall, and the kitchen. She wasn't there, though, so I began to go through the map floor by floor. It took a while, but I finally found her in the hall of knights.

With Hale.

Ugh.

I made it through the common room without being stopped and then left, heading for my sister. I just prayed that I wouldn't find her making out with him… Merlin, I really hoped that I didn't.

She wasn't, though, when I found her. They were simply standing very close to each other and talking in low voices. It was evident from the look on his face that Hale absolutely adored my sister and I felt myself relax just a little bit. Perhaps he wasn't the reason that my sister had been acting so strangely.

"Jen."

She whirled around, surprised. "James."

I held out my arms. "Yes. James. Your brother. Whom you haven't talked to yet."

She rolled her eyes and came to give me a hug. "Better?"

"Only just a bit," I told her and then looked at Hale. "Aren't you supposed to be patrolling?"

He blushed. "Yes. Um… see you later, Jen."

"Bye," she told him softly.

He walked away and once he was out of earshot, I took my sister's face in my hands and said, "Are you okay?"

She appeared confused. "Yes. Did you think that Hale was hurting me?"

"I had no idea what was hurting you," I told her and released her. "I just knew that you were hurting."

"I'm not hurting."

"You're lying, Jen." I sighed. "If it's not Hale that's bothering you, then what is it?"

She raised her chin just a bit, a small act of defiance and stubbornness. "Nothing is bothering me, James. I'm fine."

"Except that you're not," I told her and crossed my arms over my chest. "Jen, I'm your brother. I know when something's bothering you."

"Well, you're wrong this time."

I shook my head. "I'm not. Jen, please just tell me. Let me help you with whatever it is."

Something like pain flashed in her hazel eyes, but she masked it quickly. She'd always been pretty good at concealing her emotions. "I don't need help with anything, James. I'm fine." And then she smiled and touched my arm. "What about you? Do you need help with anything?"

I rolled my eyes. "Stop trying to change the subject."

Her voice became both firm and reassuring. "James, I'm fine, okay? Nothing is wrong with me."

Though I knew that it wasn't true, I also knew that I wasn't going to be able to get anything else out of her. "You're sure?"

"Positive," she responded evenly.

"Okay." I hugged her again. "Come on. Let's go back to the common room."

Wordlessly, she followed me.


	45. Chapter 45

~Jen's POV~

"I know," I told the clingy Hale as I ran a hand through his messy blond hair. "But I can't stay up late tonight, okay? I have a headache and I need to sleep."

He nodded solemnly. "Okay. I hope you get to feeling better soon."

"Me too," I mumbled and kissed him quickly before I turned and walked away.

But I didn't go to my room.

Instead, I walked out of the common room and headed for the library, certain that Hale hadn't seen me. It was the night of the full moon, and I only had a little bit of time before I had to go and meet James, Sirius, and Peter. Only an hour. And before I met them, I needed to run by the library to tell Madame Prince about a book that I was going to need for a project to see if she could get it ordered for me.

The library was nearly empty when I came in, which was perfect for me. Madame Prince spotted me as soon as I walked in the door and gave me an enthusiastic hello. "Miss Potter," she said happily. "How are you?"

"Great, thank you," I responded. "And you?"

"Very well," she said. "What can I do for you?"

I took the piece of parchment out of my pocket and handed it to her. "Professor Bauer recommended this book for an essay project that I'm working on and I wondered if you could get it ordered for me. I've already checked, and we don't have it here."

She scanned the title and then smiled at me. "Of course, Miss Potter, of course. It should be here in about a week or so. Is that enough time to get your project done?"

"Absolutely," I affirmed. "The project isn't due until the end of the year."

"I'll get it ordered first thing tomorrow."

"Thank you," I said and turned to go.

"Miss Potter?"

I turned back around. "Yes?"

She gestured toward the far end of the library. "I just got some new books in. I thought that several of them might interest you. You should take a look whenever you get the chance."

A glance at my watch told me that I still had thirty minutes before I needed to leave the library in order to make it to the others in time. "I'll look at them now."

"Great," she beamed.

I made my way to the shelf that she'd told me about and scanned the titles of the new books. They were books about the history behind dark magic, and she'd been absolutely right when she'd said that she thought several of them might interest me. I was already itching to get my hands on one of them as soon as possible, but I wouldn't have the time to run it back to my room before I needed to meet the others. I was just going to have to come back tomorrow and pick one out.

"Jen?"

I whirled around and found Regulus standing at the end of the bookshelf, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his black jacket. My spirits lifted when I saw him, but they fell again when I saw how he looked. His black hair was messier than normal, almost as if he'd been gripping at it with his hands. Slight shadows darkened the area under his dark eyes and he looked pale and exhausted, not at all like the lively guy he'd been over the break.

"Regulus," I said softly. "It's been a while since I've seen you."

"A month, nearly," he said.

"That can't be right." But I counted back and found that it _had_ almost been a month since I'd seen him. It was halfway through January. "It's really been that long, hasn't it?"

He nodded and gestured to the shelf I'd been looking at. "I checked out one already. It's really interesting."

"They _seem_ interesting," I agreed, but didn't take my eyes off of him. Seeing him like that… it made me sad. "Regulus… are you all right?"

He seemed almost surprised by the question. "Yes, of course."

I understood then why James had been so frustrated when I'd insisted that nothing was wrong. He had probably been able to tell – just like I could with Regulus – that there was something wrong that I wasn't telling him about. It was a bit maddening. "You're sure?"

There was the briefest hesitation before he nodded.

"I'm not sure I believe you," I said and leaned against the bookshelf, leveling him with a gaze. "There's something wrong, isn't there? You look like you haven't slept or eaten in several days."

"You're wrong." He gave me the smallest of smiles. "I ate a bit of dinner just a bit ago."

"Have you been sleeping well?" I asked. "Do you need me to make you some more of that potion?"

"I can make myself the potion, Jen," he said in a tired voice. "But thank you."

"The nightmares," I whispered. "Did they come back?"

He opened his mouth, closed it again, and then sighed. "Yes."

"Is there anything that I can do to help you?"

"I don't think so, Jen. But thank you for your concern."

I looked around, though there was no one else in the library, and then stepped closer to him. "Regulus, you can talk to me, you know. That's what friends are for."

"I know."

I rested my hand gently on his arm. "Would you tell me if something was wrong?"

He surprised me when he answered honestly. "It would depend on what was wrong, I suppose. There are some things that I wouldn't want to trouble you with."

"Like what?"

There was pain in his eyes when he answered. "Jen… I'm sorry. Your friendship means so much to me, but…"

"But?" I prompted.

"Jen." I could feel his warm breath when he exhaled and that surprised me. I hadn't realized that I'd been standing so close to him. "Please, don't dig into this."

"Dig into what?"

"Jen," his voice was both a reprimand and a warning.

I took a step backwards, hurt. "I'm sorry, Regulus. I didn't mean…" I choked up and cleared my throat. "I didn't mean to intrude where I'm not wanted."

He appeared hurt, but why should he? _I_ was the one that had a right to be hurt, not him. _He_ was the one pushing me away from him when all that I wanted to do was help him. "Jen, that's not it at all."

"Then what is it?"

"Jen…"

"Regulus," I replied and stepped towards him again. "Tell me."

"I…"

And then, suddenly, I remembered. "Oh, no!" I looked at my watch and realized that I was going to have to run through the castle. "Regulus…" I looked back up at him and regretted my next words. "I'm so sorry; I have to go."

He nodded and stepped away. "That's probably for the best."

I shook my head. "No, it's not… it's not that I don't want to be here with you. It's not that at all. It's just… I have plans with my brother…"

He held up a hand to cut me off and gave me a gentle smile. "It's okay, Jen. I understand."

He didn't, actually, but I didn't say so. "Regulus?"

His eyebrows rose. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

I did, but that could wait. "I have a question first."

"Yes?"

I took a breath and then asked, "We're still friends, right?"

He smiled again. "Yes, Jen; we're still friends."

I nodded slowly and began to step back. "Thank you, Regulus." And then I took off, already running because if I didn't sprint the whole way, I'd be late. And that would lead to questions that I didn't want to have to answer.

I reached the meeting place right on time and faced the other Marauders with a smile. "Hey, guys."

"Late much?" Sirius asked me.

I rolled my eyes and showed him my watch. "I'm right on time, actually."

James raised an eyebrow at me. "Where have you been? You're usually early."

"Hale was hard to shake off," I lied and gestured toward the doors. "Shall we go?"

"Sure," Sirius said before James could ask me more questions. "Peter? You good?"

The rat on Sirius' shoulder squeaked an affirmation.

"Let's go," James said and held up the cloak so that Sirius and I could squeeze under it. It had become a tight fit since we'd all grown so much, but we managed to make it work.

Once we were close enough to the tree, Sirius picked Peter up and set him on the ground. "Okay, Wormtail. Do your thing."

Peter disappeared through the grass, hit the knot, and the tree stopped moving.

"You first, Sirius," James said.

Sirius obediently turned into a big black dog and headed for the hole.

James nodded at me. "Jen."

I took a breath, closed my eyes, and thought of Regulus one last time before I turned into my wolf.


	46. Chapter 46

~James' POV~

"I honestly don't know why you even want to go to this match," Lily said as she pulled the hat down over her unruly red hair. "Gryffindor isn't in it."

"But the winner of this match is who we'll play for the Cup," I informed her and buttoned up my coat. "You don't have to come if you don't want to, Lily. I understand if you want to stay here where it's nice and warm."

"I can handle the cold, James," she said with a roll of her eyes as she buttoned up her own coat. "Shall we go, then?"

"Let's go," I agreed and called to Sirius and Peter to hurry up.

"Remus isn't coming?" she asked me as we began to walk.

Sirius spoke before I could. "Said he had a ton of homework to get done. You know how that bloke is; always so concerned with school."

Lily seemed to accept this excuse well enough, but I couldn't help but wonder when she would get too suspicious to believe our excuses anymore. "Smart of him. N.E.W.T.s are just around the corner, you know."

"Not this again!" Sirius said and put his arm around Peter's shoulders. "Come on, Wormtail. Let's get out of here before our brains rot."

"We'll save you seats!" Peter called back before Sirius drug him too far into the crowd for them to be visible anymore.

"How does Sirius get the grades that he does?" Lily asked. "He doesn't seem to care about school at all."

"He doesn't," I agreed. "But he's smarter than he lets on. If he applied himself, he could be competing with you and Remus for top of the class."

"Doubtful."

I laughed. "Don't worry, Evans; I'm sure that you'll graduate number one in the class."

That seemed to appease her. "So, who do you think will win?"

"I _hope_ Ravenclaw wins," I said. "But Slytherin will probably win."

"Who's going to win the Cup?"

"We are," I said fiercely. "I'm already planning our practice schedule and everything. There's no way that I'm going to even let them close to winning."

She laughed. "Well, my bet's on you."

"It better be," I said and pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek.

"Is Jen coming to the match?" she wondered aloud. "I haven't seen her in a while. Well, I _see_ her in the hallways and such, but I haven't really gotten to speak with her in quite a while."

_Me either_, I thought. Sure, Jen talked to me, but something about it wasn't the same as it had been before. Maybe it was that we were both growing into adults, but that just didn't sound right to me. I'd been so sure that Jen and I would always be close, even as adults. I couldn't imagine a life without being close to her. "I'm actually not sure if she's coming or not. I would imagine that she would. She generally goes to every match that she can, and this one is important to us."

"I hope she does," Lily said.

"Me too." _If only so that I can analyze her behavior some more and figure out what's going on with her._

The air outside was cold, but at least the wind wasn't blowing. Lily and I made our way down to the Quidditch pitch and then sat in the Gryffindor section right behind Sirius and Peter, who had – true to Peter's word – saved us those seats. The match was about to start, and you could feel the tension.

"Have either of you seen Jen?" I asked Peter and Sirius.

"No," Peter responded.

Sirius shook his head. "Why?"

"Just wondering if she was going to come or not."

He pointed. "Hale's over there, but she isn't with him. He's just with his roommates."

I looked over to where he was pointing and saw that he was right. Hale was there with his roommates, talking and laughing. "Hmm."

"Maybe it was too cold for her," Lily suggested.

"Maybe…" I said, but I knew that wasn't the case. Jen was too stubborn to let a little cold stop her from doing something that she wanted to do. If she wanted to come to the match, she would come no matter what.

"I'm sure that she's probably still asleep," Sirius said.

Suddenly, a hand came out and smacked him upside the head and Jen sat down next to me. "Since when am I a late sleeper, Sirius?"

He rubbed his head and made a face at her. "Ow."

"Don't be so sensitive."

I looked at her. "Where were you?"

She looked at me confusedly. "What?"

"Where were you?" I asked again.

"Getting ready." She gestured to the pitch. "The match hasn't started yet."

Lily began to speak to her and I could only watch closely for anything that would tip me off to what was wrong.

"James."

"Huh?" I asked, startled.

Jen rolled her eyes at me and said, "The match is about to start. You can watch that now instead of me."

"I wasn't watching you," I said and turned my attention back to the match.

"Then what were you looking at?"

"Just thinking," I said flippantly.

"That's a first," she muttered.

I stepped on her foot.

~Jen's POV~

Though it would have been better for Gryffindor if Ravenclaw had won, the victory went to Slytherin. A blowout, actually. 300 to 0.

Regulus, whom I had really come to watch, played extraordinarily well. He weaved between the players as if they were merely inanimate obstacles and caught the Snitch in a rather impressive dive. The exact dive that we'd been practicing over the break, actually.

"Bloody hell," James sighed after the match was over. "That's not the outcome that I'd hoped for."

"But it's the one we all saw coming," I responded as I stood.

"True," Sirius agreed as he and Peter stood. "Plan your strategy well, Captain."

James rolled his eyes. "Thanks."

We moved along with the crowd and I waited for a minute or two before I let myself get lost in them. Hoping that everyone would simply think that I had accidentally gotten lost in the crowd, I headed for the locker rooms, heart pounding as I did.

There was a little spot off to the side where I crouched down to wait, hoping that no one would notice me. If they did, I would be in big trouble.

One by one, the Slytherin team came out, celebrating their victory.

Regulus was the last one to come out, just as I had expected.

With a deep breath, I came out of my hiding spot. "Regulus?"

He whirled around, eyes wide in surprise, and relaxed when he saw that it was just me. "Jen, you scared me."

"Sorry." I smiled shyly and took a small step closer, still nervous. _What am I doing?_ "You played really well."

"Thanks," he said with a small smile. "Not the outcome you wanted, is it?"

I laughed. "It's okay; I was expecting it."

"Did you like the dive?"

I laughed again. "Loved the dive. Have you been practicing that?"

He played along. "Not really. It kind of just happened. But I hear that happens with exceptional athletes."

"Exceptional? How about egotistical?"

"Ouch," he laughed.

"If you ever need help with some of your moves, feel free to contact me," I continued.

The smile stayed on his face. "I'll be sure to do that." He ran a hand slowly through his neatly trimmed hair. It looked like he'd just recently had it cut. "Are you going to be too nervous to face me on the pitch for the Cup?"

"You may have caught the Snitch before me last year, Black, but I'll _own_ you this year."

He inclined his head toward me. "We'll just have to see about that one, won't we?"

"You know," I said thoughtfully. "Now that you've taught me your moves, you won't have the upper hand anymore. We're on equal ground now."

"You've always had the upper hand, Jen," he said softly and something about that made me blush.

_Why am I blushing?!_

I took a slow step towards the door. "Well, I just came to tell you that you played a good match."

He nodded. "Thank you. You better practice before we have to face each other out there."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't need practice, Black. You do."

He laughed. "I'll remember that."

"Bye," I said awkwardly as I opened the door.

"Bye, Jen," he replied softly.

_Why did you do that?!_ The voice in my head demanded as soon as I was outside. _Why in the world would you go and seek out Regulus Black? You should have stayed with your brother!_

Not in the mood for a lecture, I blocked the voice out as I continued my trek to the castle. In the silence of the impending darkness, I found myself replaying the conversation over and over again and wondering why I had blushed like that.

I came up with no answers.


	47. Chapter 47

~Jen's POV~

"That's not a fair comparison!" I said.

"Yes, it is," Remus argued. "He was in exactly the same position to make the change as the-"

"No!" I said, laughing. Arguments with Remus always made me laugh because of the intensity with which he made his points. "That's not even-"

"Hey, sorry to interrupt your argument." Lily sat down next to me on the couch, smiling. "Where are Sirius and James?"

"Sirius has detention," Remus explained as he returned to his book. "He hexed a Slytherin."

"That boy will have pink skin for at least a week," I sighed.

Her eyes widened. "James isn't in trouble, is he?"

"No," I laughed. "James is patrolling."

"Oh," she breathed, relieved. I couldn't blame her. Usually, if Sirius was in detention, James was there as well.

"He's been a lot more responsible lately. Has he even gotten detention this year?" I said this last part to Remus.

Remus looked up from his book thoughtfully. "You know, I don't think he has. There've been a couple of threats, but they were never carried out."

"He really has grown up, hasn't he?" Lily asked.

"He has," I agreed. "In fact, I think-"

But I was cut off when a tiny owl suddenly fluttered into the room, hooting softly. The students in the common room began to chatter, wondering who the owl was for. To my surprise, it hovered in front of me and didn't protest when I reached out to untie the note that was attached to its leg. After giving my ear an affectionate nip, it flew away.

"Who's that from?" Lily asked.

"I'm not sure," I responded and unfolded the small note.

_Jen, I hope it isn't an inconvenient time for you. If it is, I will understand, but do you think that you could meet me by the Black Lake? It's very important._

_-R_

R was obviously Regulus. Who else would it be?

"So?" Lily asked me.

"Seems I'm needed in the library," I lied as coolly as any Marauder can. I stood slowly and gave them all a smile. "I'll see you all later. Remus, come up with some better arguments."

He rolled his eyes. "I had you and you know it."

"Whatever." And with that, I flounced out of the room, trying to act as naturally as I possibly could.

I made my way through the castle and every time that I passed someone, I was worried that they would stop me and ask me where I was going. It was only after five minutes that I realized that no one was going to stop me – I was a prefect; I could very well be out patrolling the corridors. This realization caused me to act much more naturally and I made it to the front doors in no time. After checking to make sure that no one was around, I opened them and stepped out into the cold air, belatedly realizing that I wasn't wearing a jacket, only a red sweater and a pair of jeans.

Going back would be suspicious, though, so I toughed it out and headed for the lake. It was dark, but I managed to find my way well enough and soon I was standing at the water's edge, shivering.

A jacket was suddenly placed over my shoulders and Regulus' voice said, "Why would you come out here without a jacket in the middle of January?"

"Just stupid, I guess," I said as I turned. "Thank you."

He nodded and put a hand on my arm. "Come on, let's go over here and sit down." With his wand, he cleared away some snow and I created a quilt, much like I had done that night on the Quidditch pitch.

After we had both sat down, I asked him, "So, what was it that you needed from me? You said it was very important."

His eyes were focused on the frozen over lake. "I looked up the Merpeople, you know. Turns out, they _do_ live under all of that ice. In fact, when the water is too chilly for them, they bury themselves in the sand at the bottom."

"Is that the important thing that you needed to tell me?"

"No," he sighed and looked over at me. It was so dark outside that I couldn't see where his pupil ended and his iris began. "I just… I don't know how to say it. Or even if I should say it." He looked away from me almost guiltily.

"What are you afraid of?" I asked him gently.

"More than you'd think," he said bitterly. "Death, secrets, snakes-"

"That's not what I-" I broke off. "Wait a second. You're in Slytherin but you're afraid of snakes?"

He chuckled. "Weird, isn't it?"

"A bit," I agreed. "But that isn't what I meant. I meant: What's keeping you from telling me?"

He sighed and leaned back, propping himself up on his hands the way I was doing. "I guess… I've just come to regard you as a close friend and I don't know what I'd do if you told me that you hated me and never wanted to speak to me again."

"Do you remember when I told you that I didn't think there was anything that James could do that I wouldn't be able to forgive him for?"

"That's different." He looked at me. "James is your brother."

"And I try to treat my close friends the same way."

He let out a sigh. "Okay, okay. I have a confession."

"Let's hear it."

Suddenly, his anxious expression changed to one of unshakable sincerity that took my breath away. Well, that and the way that he was looking so deeply into my eyes… As if he could see _me_. The real Jen. Not the exterior one. The one that loves Psychology and sometimes wants to be rude just because that's not what people expect of her.

"Jen," he said, his voice a gentle whisper that made me shiver. "I…"

"Say it," I urged him.

"I think I'm falling in love with you."

The full impact of his words hit me like an angry dragon and made it difficult to breathe. Eight words. Nine syllables. It shouldn't have affected me that way, but it did.

"You… you think?" I finally said.

He closed his eyes briefly and then opened them again. "No, I don't think. I _know_."

_I'm falling in love with you…_

I opened my mouth to tell him that I felt the same way, but his hand was suddenly there, stopping my words.

"Wait," he said. "That's not it." And then he dropped his hand with a sigh.

"Falling in love with me isn't what scares you?" I asked him.

"No," he said, the corners of his mouth pulling up in a smile. "Jen, you're amazing. Perfect, even. Falling in love with you and having the feelings that I do for you… well, it's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

My heart began to soar at his words.

Nothing that Hale had ever said had made me feel the way that I did then.

"Jen…" Regulus suddenly looked pained. "There's more. Something else that I need to tell you."

What else could possibly follow an admission of love? "What's that?"

"Don't fall in love with me too."

My heart – which had been soaring a second ago – suddenly crashed into my stomach. "What? Why?"

The pain in his eyes and in his voice was evident. "Jen… I'm not the right guy for you. You deserve someone… well, someone like Hale. Someone that's a good guy and that-"

"_You're_ a good guy," I informed him. "Don't try to tell me that you're not. I've seen it. You aren't who everyone thinks you are."

His eyes glistened. "I'm not who you think I am, either."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Jen…"

"Regulus," I said sharply, tasting tears. "_Tell me_."

And then he pulled up the sleeve of his jacket and the sleeve of the shirt underneath.

It was there, the angry, black mark, like ink on his fair skin.

The Dark Mark.

_His_ mark. Voldemort's.

I gasped in shock. "Regulus… no…"

He shook his head in despair. "Jen, I'm so sorry… I…"

I grabbed his face in my hands. "Are you on his side?"

"What?"

"Are you on his side?"

"No," he said softly. "Not truly."

"Then it doesn't matter," I said fiercely. "I don't care."

"Jen, you can't-"

"Regulus." I cut him off. "I'm not going to fight what I'm feeling anymore. I'm falling in love with you, too."

He stared deeply into my eyes for a moment before he grabbed my wrists and pulled my hands away from his face. And then, he cupped my face gently in his hands, leaned in, and pressed his lips to mine.

We'd kissed once before, but this wasn't a drunken fumbling. This was warm and sweet and…_real_.

When he pulled away, he kissed my forehead. "Thank you."

In answer, I pulled him back in for another kiss.


	48. Chapter 48

~Jen's POV~

"Are you okay?" Hale asked me.

I continued working on my essay and tried to ignore his hand, which was rubbing circles in my back. "Fine. Just wondering how I'm going to bring all of this together for a good conclusion."

"It's more than that," he told me. "It's like… you're not really here."

I knew what he meant, but I looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "I'm right here. See? Do you need me to pinch you?"

He rolled his blue eyes. "No. And that's not what I meant. You've just seemed… distant lately."

I shook my head and returned my attention to the book in front of me. "Just a lot going on, I guess. Preparing for the Cup, working on the choir duet, school, prefect duties..."

"Yeah," he said slowly. "I understand; that's a lot to take on. Sorry."

"It's okay," I responded.

He continued to chatter senselessly as I finished my essay and when I was done, he helped me pack up so that we could go to the Great Hall for dinner. On the way, he talked about his plans for us for Valentine's Day and I gave responses when necessary. Otherwise, I was on auto-pilot.

At dinner, I sat with Beth on one side, Hale on the other. Hale got on really well with my friends, which was great. It was especially great in situations when I didn't really have anything else to talk to Hale about. In those cases, my friends would pick up on that and start a conversation with him to give me a break. Oh, how I love my friends.

During dinner, I kept looking up and meeting Regulus' eyes. It went the same way every time: We'd make eye contact, one of us would smile, the other would smile, and then we'd look away abruptly, hoping that no one had noticed. As far as I could tell, no one did.

I still couldn't believe that he had the Dark Mark. How long had he had it? Why had he let himself be branded like that? How did the mark work? Had he ever gone on a Death Eater mission? Did having that mark automatically make him a Death Eater? Could Aurors kill him on sight if they saw that mark? Had he thought about the consequences when he'd gotten it, or had he only done it to do what he was "supposed to do"?

Poor Regulus.

Before I knew it, I had eaten all of my food and Hale was asking me if I was ready to go back to the commons room.

"Umm… sure," I responded and stood with him. "I'll see you all later?"

My roommates all gave me a quick reply in return.

Hale and I began to walk and he started talking about his classes and how they were going. As usual, I gave replies only when it was absolutely necessary. He seemed fine with this, though, seeing as how he never complained.

We had just passed through the doors when someone bumped into me.

"Sorry," Regulus muttered softly and continued on his way.

Hale was glaring at his retreating back. "That was rude."

"He apologized," I said defensively.

"I guess," Hale replied, obviously still disgusted. He grabbed my hand and we continued to walk, with him still prattling on about nonsense.

_Why did Regulus run into me?_

My other hand strayed to the pocket of my jacket and I found it.

A folded piece of parchment.

A secret note.

_Oh. That makes sense._

"How _is_ the choir thing going?" Hale asked me as we both skipped the trip stair. "I've been meaning to ask you. Is the duet going to go okay, or is Hogwarts actually going to lose to Beauxbatons?"

"Don't jinx it like that, Hale," I winced. "Losing to Beauxbatons would be… I don't even want to think about it. Duets are just hard. Maybe it'll all work out in the end." But the practices that I'd had with my duet partner hadn't been going so great. The competition could end in disaster…

Unless a certain someone kept their promise and decided that they would sing with me.

The common room was buzzing with activity – students doing their homework, socializing, laughing, figuring up the points to see how much Gryffindor would have to beat Slytherin by to win the Cup…

"Ah, the Cup," Hale said with a fond smile at me. "James' new practice schedule goes into effect tomorrow, doesn't it?"

I sat beside him on the couch. "Yes."

"I'll hardly get to see you after tomorrow, then," he said sadly and gently laced his fingers with mine once again. "At least until after the Cup is over."

I could think of no words of comfort for him, so I said, "Hmm."

One of his eyebrows arched over a dark blue pupil. "Jen, are you sure everything's okay? You've been acting… strange. Did I do something wrong?" And then a worried expression came over his face. "Is there… is there someone else that you'd rather…?"

_Yes. _"No, Hale. Everything is fine." Of course, telling him the truth wasn't an option and it would look suspicious if I just broke up with him with no good explanation… "I'm just really tired. And about to get even more tired, due to James' obsessive Quidditch schedule. It'll all pass soon."

Reassured once more, he put an arm around me and kissed my forehead. "Good. I like the old you better."

_There is no old me anymore_. "Isn't that Credence? I think he's waving you over."

Hale looked to where I was nodding and stood. "Oh, yeah." He smiled at me. "I'll be right back." And then he headed over to talk to his friend.

As soon as he was in conversation with Credence, I took the note out of my pocket and unfolded it.

_Black Lake tonight, same time as before? Bring a jacket this time._

_-R_

Stashing the note back in my pocket, I stood and turned to the nearest person I could find, a first year with wide brown eyes and messy blond hair. "You know that boy I was sitting with?" I asked him.

His eyes widened. "Hale Jacobs?"

I nodded. "When he comes back, tell him I had to go and take care of something, okay?"

He merely nodded.

In a flash, I was gone.

…

"Who knew Regulus Black was so smooth?"

Regulus turned around, grinning. "Everyone. Except for you, it seems."

I stepped up beside him and held out my arms. "I'm wearing a jacket. See?"

He chuckled. "I see. Well done."

Together, we stared out at the inky water of the lake. Out of the corner of my eye, though, I was stealing glances at _him_. He was dressed in dark clothes – dark jeans, dark shirt, dark jacket, dark shoes… His black hair was artfully messy, his face all angles and planes.

"You're staring at me," he said finally, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"So what if I am?" I teased him.

He turned to me, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket. "It's weird."

"Is it?"

In one fluid motion, he had taken his hands out of his pockets, grabbed my arms, and pulled me close to him, so close that I was sharing his body warmth. His lips covered mine, warm in spite of the frigid air, and then we were kissing.

He teased me with gentle butterfly kisses at first, but then our kissing grew deeper, more passionate, until my arms were locked around his neck and we were pressed as tightly together as our bundles of clothing would allow.

When we finally broke apart – I'm not sure who pulled away first – we were both panting for breath.

"I need to be careful when I do that," he finally said, almost murmured to himself. "I could hurt you."

"I doubt that," I responded and stepped closer to him once again, pressing myself against him.

His arms came around me and his chin came down to rest on the top of my head. "How was your day, Jen?"

"All right," I responded, my voice a bit muffled. "Yours?"

"Fine, I suppose," he said and kissed the top of my head before he pulled back and stepped away. "Listen, Jen, I'm not sure you should break up with Hale right away. It'd be too-"

"Suspicious," I finished. "I know."

He smiled and stroked some hair away from my face. "You're a clever girl; I knew you'd see it, too."

"Regulus?"

"Yes?"

I smiled. "I had hoped I'd get to be alone with you soon. Did you read my mind?"

"It's one of my many hidden talents," he shrugged with a smile. "Are you impressed?"

"Substantially," I said solemnly. "Regulus?"

He arched one eyebrow. "Yes, Jen?"

I blushed, but still managed to ask, "Will you kiss me again?"

In answer, he pulled me closer and tipped my face up towards his.


	49. Chapter 49

~James' POV~

"This is vital."

"I know, James."

I stretched my hands apart. "_This_ vital."

"Yes…"

"I mean, every single _second_ of this practice time has to _mean something_. One lost second could mean the difference between winning or losing this match."

"You've said that. Three times, I think."

I raked a hand roughly through my hair as I continued to pace the room. "And if _anyone_ isn't focused, that could carry over to the whole team. So if I drag out practice too long, then it really won't do any good."

"Mhm."

"But, then again, practice makes perfect…"

"So I hear."

I sighed and straightened my glasses. "And I don't think I should put any different plays in. I mean, they already know the ones we have, so wouldn't learning different ones just confuse everyone?"

"Probably."

"Then again, maybe a new play is exactly what we need to beat Slytherin… What do you think?"

She sat up on my bed, her red hair falling over one shoulder as she tilted her head to look at me with her stunningly green eyes. "I think," she said slowly. "That you've been waiting a long time to get me in your bed. And now that you have me here…. You're talking about Quidditch."

"I wasn't ten minutes ago," I said, remembering. I watched her blush and smiled. "Maybe that's what it is. Withdrawal from my obsession with Quidditch talk?"

"What about your obsession with me?" she demanded lightly. I liked this new side of her, the flirty, demanding side.

My eyes raked over the bare skin of her body that the sheets of my bed didn't cover. "I think you know how I feel about that."

She blushed again and pulled the sheet up higher, as if I hadn't already seen everything. "We were supposed to be studying," she said, as if that changed anything.

I sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned over to kiss her. "I'm glad we didn't. This…" I trailed a finger along her collarbone, "…was a lot more interesting than Charms homework."

"I should hope so," she said and sighed, putting her palms against her cheeks. "Blushing. The bane of redheads."

"I like your blush," I informed her and kissed her forehead before I headed over to my dresser and began pulling out practice clothes. "Did you want to come to practice?"

"Not really," she admitted and I could hear her getting out of the bed behind me. Heard her pulling on her undergarments. "It's cold and… well… Quidditch isn't really my thing."

I pulled a T-shirt over my head and turned around to watch her slip into her jeans. "And yet, you're dating the captain of the Quidditch team."

"I hadn't noticed," she teased and then frowned. "Where's my shirt?"

I glanced around at all of the articles of clothing on the floor. "Umm…"

"You weren't paying attention to where you threw it?" she asked me.

I grinned at her. "I was a little preoccupied, thank you."

She rolled her eyes (blushing, of course) and began digging through the piles of clothes. "Honestly, you boys are so messy. How can you ever find anything?"

"Summoning Spell?" I suggested.

She was stricken. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"I'm not sure," I admitted and summoned her shirt.

She slipped it on and adjusted her slightly messy hair. "I think I'll go to the library." She picked up her bag and adjusted the strap on her shoulder. "Have fun at Quidditch practice."

"Practice isn't supposed to be fun," I said sternly.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course it isn't. Bye, then."

When she kissed me, I pulled her in close and all of the memories of what we'd done flashed behind my closed eyelids. It had been… nirvana.

When Lily pulled away, I could tell that she'd been thinking about it, too. It was in the depths of her green eyes, the blush on her cheeks, the softness of her goodbye.

Once she was gone, it took me a moment to get my bearings.

And once I did, I realized that practice was supposed to start…

Right now.

"Merlin!" I gasped as I grabbed my room and sprinted out the door.

~Jen's POV~

"Jen."

"Hey, Diego," I said with a smile. I'd been in a much better mood since I'd gotten together with Regulus, I had noticed.

"Where's your brother?" he asked as he sat beside me and began to stretch.

I glanced at my watch. "Hmm. Not sure. He's always early. Maybe he got scared by the Slytherin team's power and might."

Diego laughed. "I'm sure that's it. Ah, there's our illustrious leader now."

James was flying down the hill – literally – and jumped off of his broom once he was hovering over the pitch. "Sorry I'm late, everyone!" he said. "I had… stuff… to take care of."

Diego snorted as he stood and then helped me to my feet.

"Up in the air!" James said loudly. "Go, go, go!"

Practice went about the way that I had expected it would. We didn't learn any new plays; we just perfected the ones that we already had. The Chasers did _a lot_ of shooting, the Beaters did a lot of Bludger beating, our Keeper worked on protecting the goal posts, and I worked on catching the Snitch, though I was careful not to show off too many of my new moves, particularly the dive that Regulus had shown me. James had seen Regulus do that dive and I didn't want him making the connection.

Speaking of James, he seemed… distracted. Not during the important parts of practice, mind you, but at other times. Like when we were getting a drink of water and he was staring off into space, this dreamy look on his face. Or when Diego was telling him something and he looked like he was only half paying attention. Or when he was just hovering in the air, staring at something far, far away that no one but him could see.

Suspicious, to say the least.

I assumed that it had something to do with Lily, but it was still surprising. He was always the one saying that you can't let yourself get distracted over anything. During Quidditch practice, you needed to be on top of your game. Whatever else was going on with your life needed to stay back in your dorm room.

Apparently, our "illustrious leader" wasn't taking his own advice.

Then again, that really shouldn't have surprised me. The rules never applied to him.

He ended practice with a typical speech, reminded everyone about the next practice, and then dismissed us all. A couple of our teammates asked him questions, so I stayed behind and waited until everyone else was gone.

Then, I fell into step beside him. "Hey, Captain."

He smiled at me. "Hey, Jen."

"You were late today."

He acted completely natural, but I was his sister, and I sensed the slight tension in his body. It was the same tension that he had when he'd been ten and terrified that Mom would figure out that he'd been lying about doing his chores. Scared that the truth would be discovered. "Yeah. Like I said, I had something to take care of."

"Like what?"

"I…" he paused and then shrugged again, like it was no big deal. "Just some stuff. Boring stuff. It isn't important."

Short, choppy sentences? My suspicions were confirmed; something was _definitely_ going on. But I kept my voice nonchalant. "Oh. I hate when that happens. So, what'd you think of Diego's swoop goal today?"

He'd actually been zoned out during that event.

"I… it was great," he said, far too quickly.

I stopped walking and grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop with me. "Okay, James, this is getting ridiculous. You can give it up now."

He knew what I was talking about, but he still played dumb. "I don't know what you mean."

I rolled my eyes. "I mean, you were distracted today during practice, which is strange for you, so obviously something is going on that you're not telling me about."

"Nothing's going on," he mumbled.

I put my hands on my hips. "James, I suggest you tell me now."

"You look like Mum when you do that."

"Want to see if I can hex like her, too?"

He sighed. "No. Okay, okay, you got me."

"Okay," I said. "Out with it, then."

His eyes darted around nervously, as if afraid that someone might hear. "Well… today, before practice…"

I waited.

He sighed. "Lily came to my room to work on our Charms homework…"

I was starting to get it.

"And…" He was blushing. Actually blushing. "Well… umm…. And then…. I… she… umm… well, we…"

I bit my lip to hold back a laugh and held up my hand to signal that it was okay for him to stop. "It's all right, James. I think I've got it now."

He looked relieved, yet apprehensive. "And…?"

"I'm telling Sirius." I darted off.

"JEN!"


	50. Chapter 50

~James' POV~

"You seem tense," Lily informed me as she snuggled closer to me, the curves of her body fitting to me. One of her hands rand own my bare chest. "Are you afraid that Sirius and Remus and Peter are going to walk in?"

"Sirius and Peter are in detention and won't be done for another hour," I told her. "And Remus is in the library working on an essay, so he won't be back for a while."

"So, you're tense because…?"

"I'm not."

"James," she said, a warning in her voice. "I know you better than that. You can't fool me."

There was something that I wanted to tell her, to talk to her about, but I couldn't make myself do it. Not yet. Not when it might ruin everything that I had worked so hard for. "Just Quidditch."

She groaned. "Not that again. James, I've been competing with Quidditch for our whole relationship."

I smiled apologetically and ran my fingers through her silky hair. "Sorry. You won't have to worry about it for too much longer, though. The Cup will be over soon and then no more Quidditch for me."

"You don't want to try to play for a professional team?" she asked curiously.

"No." I shook my head. "I think, after Hogwarts, I want to focus all of my attention on Voldemort. With his rising power and number of followers, he's becoming a real threat. I want to help fight him."

"And after that's over?" she asked.

I smiled down at her. "Some of us don't have every day of our lives planned out, Lily."

"Well, you should," she proclaimed. "Think about it, James, what would you want to do, if you could do anything in the world?"

"Be with you."

She blushed, but rolled her eyes. "I'm serious."

"So am I."

She sighed. "Okay. If you could have any _career_ in the world."

I thought for a moment. "I don't know. Auror, maybe."

"That's a good career," she approved.

"And _you_," I said, touching the tip of her nose with my finger. "You want to be a Healer."

"I've always been fascinated in magical healing," she said.

"You'll be an excellent one. The best." I grinned. "Then again, I think you're the best at everything that you try."

"You might be a bit biased," she said and traced my jaw. "For example, your sister could beat me in a singing competition any day of the week."

"Perhaps…" I allowed. "She's always been a good singer."

"Good? Try great," Lily corrected.

"Great, then," I said and tipped Lily's head up so that I could kiss her. "What else do you want to do with your life, Lily?"

She thought for a moment before she said, "I don't know, actually. I want… to be happy. And successful."

"I don't think you'll have a problem with being successful," I said honestly. "Do you?"

She shrugged with a small kind of smile and rested her head on my chest. "I guess only time will tell."

~Jen's POV~

"This is bad," I moaned. "Very bad."

He seemed confused. "I think it's very good, actually. The way that you've drawn all of this together into a conclusion is-"

"Not that," I interrupted with a smile. "_This_. Being together like this when we both know that someone could come around the corner at any second and see us like this. And then what would we say?"

He thought for a moment. "That you're tutoring me. Because we all know that Slytherins are dumb and need all of the help that they can get."

"And I'm tutoring you out of the goodness of my heart?" I teased.

"Or pity," he shrugged. "Whichever you prefer. You're a nice person, Jen. Thank you for tutoring me."

I rolled my eyes. "Anytime. But, in all seriousness, thanks for helping me with this paper. I can write everything except for the conclusion."

"You did pretty good with this one, I think."

"Because I copied your exact words," I laughed. "You're pretty brilliant, you know."

"I know."

I laughed again and shut the books that I'd been using for references. "I guess I'd better put these up now. Unless you need them?"

He waved it away. "I've already written my paper. Here, I'll put these up and you can put everything back in your bag."

"Okay."

I watched him walk away, the books in his hands, and couldn't help my smile. How was it that I could feel this way about a guy I'd been hating since my first year at Hogwarts? How could I have fallen in love with him like this? And without a single regret?

I neatly placed everything back into my bag and closed it before setting it on top of the table and then sitting down myself to wait.

Regulus was back a minute later. "Done with everything?"

"My last paper for tonight," I agreed as I stood. "Fancy a walk?"

"It's cold," he frowned. "How about the Owlery instead of the lake?"

"Chicken," I teased, but slid the strap of my bag onto my shoulder before Regulus could grab it.

We left separately, but then met up once we were clear of everyone. It sucked, having to be so secretive about a stupid walk together.

_There will be a day_, I promised myself, _when I won't have to hide my relationship with him. When we can walk together and everyone will know that we're together. When we just won't care that everyone knows. But not right now, not yet. It isn't the right time. But someday…_

Regulus finally laced his fingers with mine and I let out a breath that I hadn't even known I'd been holding. He shot me a smile as if to say that he felt the same way and then we were walking up the steps that led to the Owlery. It was chilly there, too, but not nearly as chilly as it would have been out by the lake.

"Sing with me," I said once he'd shut the door behind us.

He raised an eyebrow. "Singing?"

"I've heard you sing," I reminded him and then pretended to pout. "Please?"

He laughed. "Your poor brother. Having to deal with that face all of his life."

I ignored him and began my verse. "I hear the ticking of the clock, I'm lying here, the room's pitch dark. I wonder where you are tonight, no answer on the telephone. And the night goes by so very slow. Oh, I hope that it won't end, though, alone."

I saw the surrender on his face as I moved to the chorus. "'Til now, I always got by on my own."

He joined in with me. "I never really cared until I met you. And now it chills me to the bone. How do I get you alone? How do I get you alone?"

His voice was steady and sure as he began to sing his verse. "You don't know how long I have wanted to touch your lips and hold you tight."

I joined with him. "You don't know how long I have waited, and I was gonna tell you tonight."

"But the secret is still my own," I sang.

"Oh, and my love for you is still unknown," he added.

"Alone," we sang.

And by some unspoken agreement, we broke off there.

I grinned at him. "Come on, be my duet partner."

He laughed. "I told you, only if I'm your last resort."

"You are!"

"Hmm," he said and pulled me close to him. "Jen." The way that he breathed my name made me shiver. His eyebrows arched with concern. "Are you cold?"

"Yes," I lied.

He took off his jacket and draped it over my thin one. "Better?"

"Much," I said and pressed myself against him, my arms wrapped around his middle.

He chuckled. "The owls are watching us."

"Let's hope they don't blab to anyone," I muttered.

He laughed. "I don't think they will. I've heard they're very good at keeping secrets."

I pulled away from him and looked into his eyes. "Can I kiss you?"

"You don't have to ask," he said softly.

Leaning up on the tips of my toes, I pressed my lips against his. He responded immediately, his lips moving against mine, his hands slipping smoothly into my straightened hair. Our bodies pressed tightly together, as if by instinct.

He pulled away and kissed my cheek. "We should get out of here, before someone comes up to send a letter to their parents and gets a surprise."

I laughed, picturing it. "That would be a very unfortunate way for our secret to get out."

"Wouldn't it? Come on, I'll walk you as far as you'll let me."

"Don't leave it up to me," I warned him as I linked my arm through his. "If it were up to me, you'd escort me right up to my dorm room."

"Wouldn't that be nice?" he murmured and leaned in to kiss me once more.


	51. Chapter 51

~Jen's POV~

"Where are we going?" Regulus asked, but he willingly followed behind me, not fussing about the arm that I was pulling.

"It's too cold outside," I said, still pulling him along. "Anyone could walk in the Owlery or down a corridor, no matter how deserted we think it is. The Quidditch pitch is frequented by James on the nights that he can't sleep, and an abandoned classroom simply won't do."

"So we're going…" Regulus trailed off, waiting for me to answer.

"Not many people know about this place," I said. "And I don't think anyone will ever understand it completely. The elves call it the Come and Go Room."

"The Come and Go Room?"

I nodded and began to slow down. "You'll see why. Hold on."

"Jen…" he said cautiously. "Erm… this is a wall. A blank wall…"

But I ignored him and focused on my thoughts. _I need a place where Regulus and I can be alone together. A room with a fire and maybe a couch. A room where we can be away from everyone else. A room that no one will suspect to look in. A room just for the two of us…_

Regulus gasped when the door began to form. "Merlin's beard…"

I grinned at him. "The Come and Go Room."

"How…?"

I pulled him through the door with me. "It's magic, of course. The whole castle is. This room appears when it senses a person's need. If I had needed a bathroom, it would have turned into a bathroom."

"Incredible," he breathed and looked around at our surroundings.

The room was small, but I hadn't really needed it to be big. There was a fireplace against one wall, a small fire burning logs in it, and a large couch in front of the fire. It was a cozy little room, exactly what I had needed.

He turned to me. "And no one can find us here?"

"That's the idea," I grinned. "Come on." I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the couch. "Now, we can sit as close together as we want, talk as long as we want, and no one will be around to see us."

"It's brilliant," he agreed, still awestruck.

"I thought so, too, the first time that the Marauders brought me here."

He frowned. "So, they could find us, if they wanted?"

I shook my head. "No. When I was thinking up this room, I made it a requirement that no one would be able to find us. That includes them."

He relaxed into his seat on the couch. "It's nice. I wish I'd known this place existed a long time ago. It would have made a good escape for me."

"Regulus."

He must have heard something in my voice, because he stopped looking around the room and turned his gaze to me.

In the next instant, I was kissing him with an intensity that I'd never had before. He made a sound of surprise, but then he was kissing me back with equal parts intensity and passion. One of his hands tangled in my hair, the other was on my hip, and then he was shifting his weight, forcing me backwards until I was lying on my back with him hovering over me.

His lips moved to my neck, placing a line of kisses there before he moved back up and kissed my cheek, my temple. My hands in his hair yanked him back to my mouth, not caring about the unnecessary roughness. In the moment, it felt necessary. All of that passion was making it hard to control myself.

He kissed me like I'd never been kissed before – in a way that I was certain Hale didn't even know about. Because no kiss that Hale had ever given me – no matter how passionate he had tried to make it – could compare to the way that Regulus kissed me.

When Regulus sat up to help me take off his shirt, I was shocked to find that I had already helped him shrug out of his jacket. And then his shirt was gone and I could think of nothing else as my hands explored his chiseled chest and stomach.

His lips crashed back onto mine as his hands moved to the hem of my shirt. In a motion that was more instinct than anything, I tangled my legs with him and then rolled so that I was on top. Luckily, the couch was big enough that we didn't go flying off of it. He removed my shirt slowly, hesitantly, giving me time to say no. But I didn't, and as soon as it was gone, I was leaning back down to kiss him.

We went no farther than that, removed no more articles of clothing, but we kept kissing and kissing and kissing until our lips were swollen and our hearts were about to burst from the exertion.

And then we just laid there with each other, limbs tangled, the only sounds the crackling of the fire and our own beating hearts. Sometimes, he would lean his head slightly towards mine and place a gentle kiss against my temple. I drew patterns on his bare chest with my index finger, triangles and circles and letters and numbers and other such nonsense.

"We should go," he finally sighed, sounding like that was the last thing that he wanted to do.

I didn't want to go, either, but I sat up. "Yeah."

But right as I was fitting my arms through the appropriate holes of my shirt, he grabbed my arm and whirled me around, his lips crashing back onto mine.

And then it started all over again…

…

"Hey."

I jumped as a wand lit up in the darkness.

Beth.

"Merlin," I breathed, placing a hand over my heart. "Beth, you scared me."

She smiled. "Sorry."

Our other roommates were fast asleep, caught up in their own dreams.

I walked over to my dresser and pulled out some pajamas. "Why are you still awake?"

"Guess I just couldn't sleep," she said. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you since after dinner, when you told Hale that you weren't feeling well and needed to go get some kind of medicine from Madame Pomfrey."

"Sleeping," I lied, and immediately felt guilty about it. I didn't like lying to anyone, but I especially hated lying to one of my best friends. "I think I'm just a little run-down from all of the homework and the practices and the prefect duties…"

"So, you weren't with Hale?" she asked.

I slipped off my jeans and pulled on a pair of comfortable sweats. "No."

"Oh."

The tone of her voice made me turn as I was slipping on a T-shirt to sleep in. "Why?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Just wondering where you got that hickey."

I froze.

_Hickey_.

"Umm…" I wasn't sure how I was supposed to handle it. Act confused? Say that she must be mistaken? Tell her that it was actually a bruise from Quidditch practice? A spell gone horribly wrong? Say that I was actually with Hale and just hadn't wanted her to know that he had kept me out so late? Tell her the truth? No, not that. Never that.

"On the left side," she said softly, pointing.

I went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

Sure enough, it was small, but it was there. Barely noticeable, but then again, Beth had always been pretty sharp.

"There's a spell to get rid of those." Beth was leaning in the doorway, watching me.

"Is there?" I asked, staring down at the sink.

"Here." She stepped forward and placed the tip of her wand against my neck. She muttered a few words, and I watched in the mirror as the hickey faded to a yellow, and then disappeared completely.

"Thank you," I said softly and turned the tap on, grabbing my face wash.

"You weren't with Hale." It wasn't a question.

So I didn't answer. Instead, I used eye-makeup remover to get rid of the makeup I was wearing. Then, I wet my face and put some face wash into my hands, lathering it up until it was a white foam.

"Jen, are you okay?' Beth didn't sound accusing, just concerned. And somehow, that was worse.

"I'm fine," I said softly before I began rubbing the foam onto my face. "Just tired."

"You can talk to me," she said. "I understand that you may not want to right now, but I'm always here for you. I'm on your side, no matter what."

Tears stinging at my eyes, I nodded. Washed the foam off of my face.

She watched as I put some toothpaste on my toothbrush, and then she turned around and left.

_I love Regulus Black_, I telepathically called after her. _I love him very much. And I would tell you, but I'm not sure you would understand. I'm not sure that anyone would._

The toothpaste couldn't get rid of the acrid taste in my mouth.


	52. Chapter 52

~James' POV~

"James, what are you looking at?"

I snapped out of my little trance and turned my gaze to Lily. "You, darling."

She rolled her bright green eyes. "Okay, what _were_ you looking at?"

"Jen," I sighed.

Lily's eyes moved down the table to where my sister was sitting between Hale and some first year boy, looking oblivious to the things her boyfriend and roommates were saying to her. She was pushing a meatball around her plate with a fork and it was obvious that she hadn't been sleeping all too well.

"Yeah, what's up with her?" Sirius asked me casually, his mouth full of food. "Peter and I invited her in on a prank on Slytherins and she didn't want any part of it!"

"That's what I want to know," I muttered sullenly.

"She doesn't look too great, does she?" Lily asked. "She has circles under her eyes." And then, she hit me.

"Ow!" I said, gripping my arm. "What was that for?!"

"Your practice schedule is making life tough on her!" she claimed.

I raised my hands defensively. "I'm going to the practices, too, and I've been sleeping!" I gestured down the table at Diego. "Diego's been attending the practices, and he looks like _he's_ been sleeping. There's something else there, Lil. I just…" I sighed. "I don't know."

She rubbed my arm comfortingly, though she'd hit me only moments before. "Oh, James."

"Have you tried talking to her?" Remus asked.

"No, I've been repeatedly hexing her instead. I thought that might work better."

"No need to be snippy, James," Remus said, but I saw the understanding look in his eyes. He understood a lot of things; that's just how he always was.

"She'll tell you when she's ready," Lily offered.

"That doesn't make it any easier now," I grumbled and then pushed my plate away. "I need to get down to the Quidditch pitch. Practice starts in half an hour."

I felt their sympathetic looks on my back as I walked away.

~Jen's POV~

"Jen, hold up!"

I sighed and held back. "What's up, Captain?"

He caught up to me and leveled me with a look that said that all joking needed to go out the window. "I was hoping you could tell me."

Despite his look, I shrugged. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Dammit, Jen!" He sounded distressed and angry. "Don't do that to me again! I know something's up, okay? I've known for a while, but I've let it slide because you insisted it was nothing. But it isn't nothing, Jen! I know you, and I know when something's wrong. So whatever it is, fess up! Just tell me! Let me _help_ you!"

I bristled, going on the defensive as I always did when I was uncomfortable with the way that something was going. "I don't need your help, James. Nothing's going on. I'm fine."

He gripped at his hair. "Jen, stop. You can tell me it's none of my business, but don't lie to me!"

"Fine!" I shot back angrily. "It's none of your business!" And then I promptly stomped off.

~James' POV~

"Can you _believe_ that?" I ranted.

"Well, it doesn't really sound like you were sympathetic," Remus reasoned.

"Yeah, maybe yelling wasn't the best thing," Sirius agreed.

I was appalled. "You two are teaming up on me?!" I turned to Peter in my disbelief. "What do _you_ think, Peter?"

"James, that isn't fair," Remus said sternly.

Peter looked relieved.

"Merlin," I moaned as I sank onto my bed. "I'm turning into a monster."

"No, you aren't," Sirius informed me. "You're concerned about your sister. We get it."

"We're concerned, too," Remus put in. "And we want to know what's bothering her, too. She's like our sister."

"Well, she _is_ mine," I said as I sat up. "And this is killing me."

"She didn't give _any_ kind of hint at all?" Remus asked.

"No," I gripped at my hair. "It would have been nice if she had. You know Jen; she always wants to deal with everything herself."

"Stubborn Potters," Sirius said with a teasing smile.

I rolled my eyes. "Stubborn is her most annoying trait."

"_I _find it endearing," Sirius teased.

I threw a shoe at him. "Focus, Sirius. We're supposed to be figuring out what's wrong with Jen."

"Which is going to be really hard if we have no clue whatsoever." Remus was straightening up his section of the room.

"Hard, but not impossible," Sirius said encouragingly. "We're Marauders; we can do anything."

"Yeah," Peter agreed.

"Thank you," I said softly and sank back onto my bed, mentally exhausted. "All of you."

~Jen's POV~

I got ready for bed like everyone else did.

Crawled into my bed and pulled the covers up high.

Waited until I was sure that all of the girls were asleep.

And then I silently crept out of bed and began changing into normal clothes.

"You're not going to see Hale, are you?"

I jumped, stifling a scream, and spun around.

Beth was sitting up in bed, her face lit up by the moonlight that was coming in through the window. Her eyes were holding mine steadily, and I didn't see judgment there. Only curiosity.

"I…" Every Marauder instinct in my body told me not to admit to anything. Marauders never admitted to anything. Ever.

"It's okay," she said softly. "I told you, you don't have to tell me anything that you don't want to. But if you ever _do_ decide you want to talk about it, I'm here."

"Thanks," I muttered and finished pulling on my shoes.

"No problem," she sighed and settled back down into her bed.

A moment later, she was asleep and I was slipping out the door and down the stairs.

Regulus was waiting for me in the Room of Requirement, sitting on the couch in front of the fire. He stood when I came in and the smile that he gave me made me smile back. A moment later, though, he was frowning slightly. "What's wrong? You're upset."

I sat down on the couch, pulling him down with me, and told him about the two conversations with Beth and the one with James.

"I'm just causing all kinds of trouble, aren't I?" he asked me after I was done as he slipped an arm around my shoulders.

I rested my head against his shoulder. "_I'm_ causing trouble. Maybe if I just acted a bit more naturally, they wouldn't have noticed anything."

"It's not your fault," he said softly. "Don't be so hard on yourself."

"Can't help it," I sighed, staring into the fire. "It's a Jen thing. I'm always hard on myself."

"You should relax more," he teased, kissing my hair. "Don't stress yourself out so much."

"Mmm," I mused and snuggled closer to him, slipping my arms around him. "Speaking from experience?"

"This year, I've gotten a lot more relaxed," he said. "And it's helped me more than you know. Because I know, that with all the stress and everything that all of those people think of me… none of it matters. Because at the end of the day, you know that I'm really not a bad person. You know who I am."

I tilted my head up to kiss him.

When he pulled away, he kissed my cheek.

"Remember that night in Hogsmeade? The night I got drunk?"

He nodded.

"I kissed you…" I paused. "You pulled away."

A frown line appeared in his forehead. "All that I had wanted was for you to kiss me. But when you did, you were drunk, and I didn't want our first kiss to be like that. I didn't want to take advantage of you."

"So noble," I muttered. "It really hurt my feelings, you know."

He smiled and kissed me once, quickly. "But you're okay now, right?"

I returned his smile. "More than okay. I just wish that this didn't have to be a secret."

"It doesn't have to be if you don't want it to be," he said. "But I think you know that it would be best if it was."

"It would," I agreed. "And that's what I want to do. It's just… hard."

"I know," he said comfortingly and pulled me even closer. "But you can take comfort in the fact that I love you, even if no one else knows it."

"I love you, too," I whispered.

"And no offense," he said slowly, carefully. "But maybe we should stop sneaking out so much. You… look like you need some rest."

"I knew I should have put some makeup on to hide the bags," I groaned and closed my eyes.

He grinned teasingly. "I don't know if a makeup exsists that could cover them up."

I playfully hit him in the chest and then leaned in to press my lips to his.

"Jen," he sighed contentedly and I caught the sound in my mouth.

He finally convinced me to go get some sleep.

…an hour later.


	53. Chapter 53

**I can NOT believe that it's been more than fifty chapters and I have over three hundred reviews! You are all incredibly amazing, and thank you so much for your support of this story!**

~Jen's POV~

"Want to patrol together tonight?" Hale asked me as he fell into step beside me and laced our fingers together, startling me. "You still have two more shifts to pick up this week, right?"

"Three. I was… too tired to do the one I said I'd do last night."

"Perfect." He shot me a grin. "So we can just patrol together tonight and maybe Thursday night… and if you want, I can patrol with you again sometime over the weekend."

"You don't need to patrol just to keep me company." _Please don't_. "It's not your fault that I was too tired to take the patrol that I said I would. You should relax and do homework and… you know, hang out with your friends and stuff like that."

"I don't mind," he insisted. "Patrols aren't so bad."

_I mind_. "You think it's a good idea to patrol together? Shouldn't we split up and cover more area?"

"That would work against my plans," he laughed. "I want to spend time with you. It doesn't matter what we're doing. Patrols, butterbeer in Hogsmeade, walking together between classes…"

"Quidditch…"

He raised an eyebrow. "You don't have practice tonight. I just talked to James."

"But… it's Tuesday."

He laughed. "That's what James said. But, apparently, Slytherin already had the field booked for today, so…"

"Oh…"

"We can start patrol now, if you want," he suggested. "Get a few hours in, and then if you still want to go down to the Quidditch pitch for some personal practice, the Slytherins should be done by then. I could come with you."

"Umm… that sounds…"

"Perfect?" he suggested and pulled me aside, wrapping his arms around my waist as he guided me into a kiss.

A wrong kiss.

It was all I could do to hold myself together long enough to endure it.

When he pulled away, his smile faded almost instantly. "Jen? What's wrong?" He leaned back to examine my face.

What could he see there, I wondered?

"You look like you're about to be sick."

Not what I had expected, but probably accurate.

"I think I am," I whispered and turned to sprint away, ignoring Hale's voice calling out for me.

~James' POV~

"James. Paper. Now."

"I'm irked."

"You've mentioned that a few times."

"More like a few _thousand_ times," Sirius muttered.

I threw a wadded piece of parchment at him.

"Really, you two." Lily rolled her eyes. "We're supposed to be working on our Defense Against the Dark Arts papers. They're due in a week, in case you've forgotten."

"So I could put this off for another six days, really," Sirius mused and looked at me as if for confirmation. "Concur?"

"He does _not_ concur," Lily answered for me, her voice as fiery as her hair. "Sirius, you can't keep putting things off until the last minute! Someday, that's going to get you into real trouble."

He appeared abashed, but no one except for Lily bought it. "You're absolutely right, Lily. I really shouldn't put off this paper. It's important."

She lifted her chin a bit higher and smiled. "Exactly, Sirius. It's good to know I'm getting through to you."

"Oi, you!" Sirius called.

The passing fifth year froze and stared at Sirius wide-eyed and a bit nervously. "Um, me?"

"Yes, you." Sirius' tone was annoyed. "What do you know about how to defeat a-"

"Sirius!" Lily scolded. "You can _not_ use a fifth year to do your work!"

"You're right…" Sirius considered this. "He probably wouldn't know." He directed his next question at me. "Do you suppose a sixth year might?"

She groaned in frustration and then turned her attention to a struggling Peter.

I waved the fifth year away and then stared back at my own paper. "You're on your own, Sirius."

He sighed and got to his feet. "Come along, Wormtail. Let's see if we can track down Moony in the library and get him to help us."

"I hope that by _help_ you don't mean _write the paper for you_," Lily grumbled.

"That was actually exactly what I meant," Sirius replied. "Come along, Peter."

After they'd departed, Lily leaned her head against my shoulder and groaned. "How do you deal with them?"

"I _am_ one of them," I reminded her with a grin. "Marauders don't do work that doesn't result in a good laugh or two."

"How ever will you make it in the real world?"

"Remus will be fine. And I don't know about Sirius and Peter, but I have you, so… I should be all right."

She grinned up at me, her eyes bright. "Think I can keep you in line?"

"I think you could keep me, seven children, three cats, two dogs, and an entire household of magical items in line without breaking a sweat."

Her face paled just a bit. "_Seven_ children? James, there's no way in hell that's happening."

"Six?"

She rolled her eyes.

Blushing, I cleared my throat. "Actually, um… I was hoping that we could… talk about that."

She raised an eyebrow at me as she twirled a lock of her hair around her index finger. "Talk about what? Having seven children?"

"I thought you only wanted six?"

She laughed. "No, not six either. Four, at the absolute most. Three would be ideal."

I laced her fingers through mine and stared at our intertwined hands, trying to build up the courage for what I really wanted to ask her. "And you'd be… open to that? With me, I mean?"

"Having children?"

"Getting married."

Silence.

After about thirty seconds, I couldn't take it anymore and I had to look over at her.

She was staring at me, pale, mouth open in shock. Her green eyes glistened, but they were unreadable to me.

"Umm…" _Stupid, James! Stupid! You moved way too fast for her and you freaked her out!_ "Lily… It's not something that you… that we need to… decide right now. I mean… I know that something like that is a huge step and I would never want you to rush into something like that… nor would I expect you to. I just… it's something that I've been thinking a lot about lately and… well… I guess I just wanted to bring it up and see if you'd thought about it at all, too."

More silence, even more torturous than before.

I let go of her hand and reached for my paper. "Anyway, I was thinking that for my paper I'd go with-"

She cut me off by gripping my hand.

I looked over at her, waiting.

"You really want to talk about this?" she whispered. "Marriage?"

"I'd like to talk about it, yes," I replied.

She grinned and leaned in to kiss me.

~Jen's POV~

I stalked slowly through the trees at the edge of the Quidditch pitch, catching glimpses of the occasional Slytherin player up in the air on a broom.

I had no idea what I was doing.

I had run from Hale, out the front doors, and had changed into my wolf form as soon as I was sure that no one was watching. And then, I'd just started to run, not even really having a destination in mind.

And I had ended up at the Quidditch pitch.

Where Regulus was practicing with his team.

Because it seemed that now, when something was going badly for me, I wanted to be around him because he made everything okay with me. Not that he ever magically solved anything, but being around him always made me feel better.

So I made my way up through the stands, careful to stay out of sight, and settled down to watch the practice.

James would have been so disappointed if he had known that I'd watched the Slytherin practice and hadn't even bothered to take any notes – mental or physical – but Quidditch rivalry was the farthest thing from my mind. I just rested my head on my front paws and watched the players weave around each other as the Quaffle and Bludgers and Snitch spun around in all different directions.

Finally, the players all landed on solid ground and talked for around twenty minutes before they headed for the dressing rooms.

I didn't budge.

He showed up half an hour later, smelling like sweat and deodorant and _Regulus_.

"It's getting cold out here," he said as he sat next to me. "You may have wolf fur, but I don't."

I didn't change back.

He tilted his head to the side and studied me. "Jen, what's wrong?"

I whined, a sound that wolves didn't make too often because wolves don't like to show pain.

Sympathy flashed in his eyes. "Whatever it is, Jen, I'm here for you. It's going to be okay."

I moved so that I could rest my head in his lap and he stroked the fur along my back.

We sat like that as the sun sank below the horizon.


	54. Chapter 54

~Jen's POV~

The idea had first begun to form in my dreams.

And it only solidified as I began to wake, blinking against the rays of the sun that slanted through the windows and gave the room a warm glow.

As I helped Cassie pin her uncooperative hair up out of the way.

As I talked outfits with Emma and Kendra.

As I studiously ignored the concerned and curious glances that Beth kept throwing my way.

"No breakfast for me," I told the girls as I grabbed my bag and pulled the strap over my shoulder. "Beth, see you in class."

I rushed out before any of them could object and nearly sprinted to the Owlery, only slowing down when someone was approaching and I didn't want to seem suspicious. Still, it felt like it had taken me an hour to reach the Owlery, and once there, I hastily scribbled a note and selected a school owl to deliver it.

Once it had flown off, I had nothing to do but wait, and that was the worst part. I paced back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, the eyes of the owls watching me the entire time. I tried singing, but even that did nothing to calm my nerves.

And yet, my resolve was more solid than ever.

I _had_ to do it.

_Now._

Regulus rushed in twenty minutes after I'd sent the note off, his black hair mussed and his dark eyes filled with concern. "Jen, what is it? What's happened?"

I just stared at him, opening myself up to the emotions that were swirling within me. Adoration, joy, calm, happiness.

Love.

"I love you."

His brows furrowed together. "Um, I love you too. Is that… is that what you needed to tell me?"

I shook my head as an unbidden smile took over my lips. "No." And then, I laughed. I probably sounded absolutely crazy.

And this was confirmed by the look on Regulus' face as he looked around, searching for an explanation. "Jen, what is it? Are you okay?"

In three long strides I had reached him and taken his face in my hands, kissing him with everything that I had. He responded quickly, arms tightening around my waist as he turned and pressed me back against the nearest wall.

His lips nudged my mouth open and I moaned softly as our tongues met. My fingers gripped at his black robes, trying to pull him closer even though there wasn't a centimeter of space between our bodies. I wanted to be closer. Always closer.

He cupped my face in his hands as he slowed the kiss down, and then he gave me one last chaste kiss before he pulled away, panting as he stared into my eyes. "Jen…"

"I can't."

The confused look was back, though it had to battle with the joy. "You can't what?"

"I can't do this." I gripped his hands tightly, willing him to understand. "I can't walk around with Hale and pretend that I want to be in a relationship. Not when he holds my hand and it doesn't feel right in mine. Not when I have to smile at him as I'm wishing it was your eyes looking back at me. Not when he kisses me and I wallow in despair afterwards because it isn't fair to you. No more of this, Regulus. No more."

He pulled me close, arms locking against my lower back, and I curled my fists into his robes.

"My love," he breathed into my hair.

"They still can't know, can they?" I asked weakly, voice muffled by his clothes. "If it gets out about you and me… That's not something that we want. Not right now. Not with the Quidditch Cup coming up. There's no telling what would happen if we opened ourselves up to the rivalries like that."

"I know."

I pulled away just enough to be able to look him in the eye. "But after?"

"After, now, a year from now… it doesn't matter to me, Jen. Whatever you want."

"That's not fair," I said.

"It will keep you safe if we wait," he said softly, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. "So let's wait."

"I still can't be with Hale anymore," I told him. "Tell me you understand that. I can't use him as cover anymore."

"Then don't."

I breathed a sigh of relief as half of the weight of the world eased off of my shoulders. I stood a little straighter as I cupped my hands around the back of Regulus' neck and pulled him in to kiss me again.

And I couldn't stop.

Not even when the first bell rang.

…

"Are you okay?"

I slipped my textbook into my bag as I exited the classroom. "Yes."

Beth gave me a small, tentative smile. "You seem… happier."

"I haven't seemed happy?" I asked, curious.

"You have," she amended, searching for the right words. "You were happy, but… there were these times when these little flickers of uncertainty would seem to overwhelm you. You didn't seem so happy when that was happening. But you seem okay now."

"I've made a decision that I think will fix some things for me," I admitted to her. "It won't fix everything, and there will be more struggles to come, but it's what I need to do."

She let out a small, disbelieving laugh. "Since when are you so secretive with me? We used to tell each other everything. Crushes, first kisses, rumors we'd heard, darkest secrets…"

A twinge of guilt pierced my heart. "I'm sorry, Beth. I really am. But this isn't something… it's just not something that I'm ready to talk about yet."

She nodded. "Just promise me that when you are, you'll know that I'm here for you?"

I smiled and nodded at her. "Of course I know that, Beth."

She was about to say something else, but then shrugged and began moving the opposite way. "Here comes your boyfriend. And I have homework that I need to get done anyway. See you at dinner?"

"Of course."

She moved away and in the next instant, Hale was at my side.

My resolve didn't crumble even a tiny bit, but I did feel another twinge of guilt as I looked at his bright blue eyes and easy smile. Perhaps, if things hadn't turned out the way that they did, I could have come to love those eyes and that smile. But I only saw him as a friend, and I had to end it.

"Hey," he said and leaned in to kiss me.

I took a step away. "Are you going to patrol before dinner?"

He seemed dazed for a moment, but then he shook his head slowly and his smile was back. "Uh, yeah. If you want to."

"Sure."

We began walking and as he started to slip his hand into mine, I stepped away again. I just couldn't let him believe that everything was okay. Not anymore. It wasn't fair to either of us.

Once again, he recovered quickly. "So, where did you run off to last night? I waited by the front doors for a while, but you never came back in."

"I went down to the Quidditch pitch," I answered carefully. I didn't want to lie to him, but I couldn't give too much away, lest anything lead to Regulus.

Hale accepted this easily. "What was wrong, anyway? Were you feeling okay?"

"Not really," I sighed. "It's… complicated."

He stopped walking and looked at me. "I'm a smart guy. I'm sure that if you explained it, I would understand. Maybe I could help you sort out whatever has you so confused."

_If only you could. If only there was a way to deliver this bad news to you without hurting you. Because you don't deserve to be hurt. It isn't your fault._

"I don't think so," I finally said. "See, the situation is…"

"Complicated?" he guessed, not sounding at all like he believed it.

I shrugged sheepishly. "Yes. It is complicated."

He took a step closer to me. "Jen…"

I stepped back.

A bewildered look took over the confusion on his face. "What's wrong? You don't want me to touch you? Did I do something wrong?"

_NO! That's just the thing! You haven't done anything wrong at all! It's not your fault that I never loved you as anything more than a friend! It's not your fault that I fell in love with someone else!_

"Look, Jen, whatever it is, we can work it out," he said with certainty. "It's all going to be okay."

"This isn't something that we can just work out," I told him.

"Maybe not now…"

"_Ever_," I said clearly. "Not ever."

"You can't know that," he said reasonably. "If you just need…"

And then he froze.

His mouth fell open as small pieces of a much larger puzzle began to fall into place in his head.

"Unless… Jen… are you in love with someone else?"

There were no tears.

No choked sensation in my throat.

If anything, I was only tired as I finally admitted, "Yes."


	55. Chapter 55

~James' POV~

Her hair was splayed out across the pillow, the flaming red brightening up the white of the pillowcase. Her skin seemed to glow in the early morning light that made its way in through the windows, and she was breathing steadily. In. Out. In. Out.

I lightly ran my fingertips along her smooth skin. Memories flooded behind my eyes. Tracing that very same skin as her mouth moved along my stomach, my chest. Her hands clutching at my hair as she whispered my name. Our legs tangling together wantonly beneath the sheets as we held each other in the quiet moments afterward, both of us too exhausted to speak.

She stirred slightly and I reached my arm around her stomach, pulling her closer to me, breathing in her scent.

When she opened her eyes and blinked them rapidly, adjusting to the light, I smiled. "Good morning."

She groaned as she rolled over onto her side and stretched languidly. "Good morning." Her voice was husky with sleep and she closed her eyes as she snuggled in closer to me. "What time is it?"

I glanced at the clock on Remus bedside table. "It's a little after six."

"Hmm," she hummed. "And how long have you been awake?"

"Maybe about half an hour now."

"You could have gotten up," she said.

"I didn't want to wake you."

She opened her eyes once more and smiled up at me. "So, you never told me how you convinced Remus and Peter and Sirius to let you have the room all to yourself last night."

I smiled back at her. "It wasn't too hard. It _is_ Valentine's Day today, after all, and they're hopeless romantics."

She grinned. "Even Sirius?"

"_Especially_ Sirius. I think romanticism runs in the Black family."

She giggled. "But where did they sleep last night?"

The Shrieking Shack. But I couldn't tell her that. Not yet. "I'm not sure."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "You're lying."

"We've gotten too close," I teased her. "You can read my mind now."

"It's one of my special powers." She began to rub her thumbs in circles on my chest. "So, are you going to tell me the truth?"

I sighed. "No."

"If it's about Remus being a werewolf, I already know."

I shot upright and had to catch her arm to keep her from tumbling right off the edge of the bed. "_What_?"

She was looking at me like she might have thought I'd lost my marbles. "You can't keep things from me, James. I've noticed before that Remus always seems to be sick around the full moons. And then you and Sirius and Peter always seem to be pretty tired around that time, too…" She trailed off as her forehead crinkled in thought. "So, what, do you guys just stay up with him? Because that's really dangerous, you know. Werewolves are very dangerous."

Deciding that it would be best to not play dumb, I sighed. "Only to humans."

"Well, yes." She rolled her eyes. "And what exactly do you think that…" She gasped. "Of course! You and Sirius and Peter are Animagi!"

"And Jen," I added.

Her eyes widened. "You let _Jen_ go out with you, too?"

"I didn't _let_ her do anything," I clarified. "She found out what we were up to and figured out how to become an Animagus before we did. I tried to convince her that it was too dangerous, but it was like talking to a brick wall."

"So you all go with him on his transformations?" she asked, a scholarly voice taking over. "How does that work?"

"He goes in under the Whomping Willow, down a tunnel, and into the Shrieking Shack. It's safe for him to transform there. Jen, Peter, Sirius, and I just keep him company as animals so that he's not so lonely and won't have to rip and tear at himself." I decided that mentioning that we sometimes let him out of the Shack probably wasn't the best course of action.

The lines of her face softened. "That's very sweet of you all." But then she sobered up. "But completely dangerous, too! You could all be killed!"

I gripped her hand and brought it to my lips. "We're always careful, Lily."

"But-"

"Is this _really_ what you want to talk about on Valentine's Day?" I asked her with a sly grin. "There'll be plenty of time for questions later. How about I give you your gift now?"

She brightened. "All right."

I got out of bed and pulled on some clothes before I went to the trunk at the foot of my bed and pulled out the package. "I'm sorry to say that I can't take full credit for this one. Jen helped me. But mostly she just listened to me rant and point at things… so I did _most_ of the work, at least. She mostly kept me from buying the wrong things. When I saw this…" I handed her the package. "I knew it was meant for you."

She carefully tore the paper off and opened the small box, her eyes lighting up when she saw what was inside. "Oh, James. It's beautiful!"

"You like it?" I asked.

"I love it!" She lifted the silver locket from the box and held it out to me. "Will you put it on me, please?"

She turned on the bed and lifted her hair out of the way, and I positioned the locket and then clasped the back of it.

Then I pressed a gentle kiss between her shoulder blades. "Happy Valentine's Day, Lily."

She leaned back against me and sighed contentedly. "Happy Valentine's Day, James."

…

Lily was waiting for me by the fire when I came down the stairs from the boys' dormitory.

She was contemplating something.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked her as I pulled her into my arms and kissed her temple.

"Jen."

A sharp panic filled my chest. "What about her?"

Lily hesitated, then sighed. "She broke up with Hale."

"What?!" She hadn't said anything about breaking up with Hale. She'd told me things were going fine with them. "When did she tell you this?"

"She didn't," Lily said. "But I heard a couple of first years talking about it. Apparently, it happened last night. We were probably already in your room."

"Have you seen her?"

"No."

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. "I'll give her some space. For _now_. We'll talk later. Come on. Let's go get some breakfast."

I expected Jen to be pretty upset. I thought maybe she'd even take the day off of classes and stay in her room, seeing as how it was Valentine's Day and everything.

So imagine my shock when I saw her at the breakfast table, plate half full of food, talking and laughing with her friends.

She looked happier than I'd seen her in a while.

"James…" Lily said uncertainly.

"I see her," I said.

As soon as I sat down, Sirius leaned across the table and said, "What's up with Jen? I thought she broke up with Hale?"

"She did," Remus said. "If the rumors are anything to go by, that is."

"And he's not sitting with her," Peter added. "And he always sits by her at breakfast."

"I don't know," I said. "She never said anything about-"

My words were cut off as a storm of owls flooded the Great Hall, carrying packages and letters. The crowd of owls was even bigger than normal, as it was a holiday. Jen and I both received some candy from our parents, and I was about to ask her to swap taffy with me when another owl headed for her and dropped something in front of her.

The flowers were red roses, carefully trimmed of any thorns, and they filled the air with a sweet, sweet scent. Tied to the bouquet was a small box, much like the one that had held Lily's necklace.

Jen blushed slightly, but smiled as she untied the small box from the bouquet and opened the lid.

It was a bracelet.

A silver bracelet.

A _beautiful_ silver bracelet.

One that sparkled and caught the light in such a way that all of the girls that were anywhere near her turned to stare at it.

"That's _quite_ a gift," Lily breathed from next to me. "Do you think… maybe the rumors aren't true?"

Jen immediately put the bracelet on and beamed down at it.

"It's not from Hale," I said, certain, though I wasn't sure how I knew.

Sirius stared at me. "But how-"

"Jen!"

My sister paused in the act of standing, the bouquet in her hands, and when she looked at me, the smile faded from her face and she suddenly looked nervous.

"That's not from Hale," I told her.

She glanced down at the bracelet, then at the bouquet, and then back at me. "No," she said finally.

"Then who?" I demanded.

But then the first bell rang and I lost my sister in the crowd.


	56. Chapter 56

~Jen's POV~

"Jenny! Wait up!"

I rolled my eyes as Sirius fell into step beside me. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me Jenny? I hate that nickname."

"You can tell me as many times as you want," he grinned. "But I'm still going to say it. Jenny."

"Ugh," I groaned and switched my broom to the other shoulder. "Why are you walking to the Quidditch pitch anyway? You're not on the team? And I'm sure James would have a word or two about having distractions at the pitch on our last practice before we play for the Quidditch Cup."

"James has other words, too," my brother said as he appeared on my other side. "Words like: Who the hell gave you the bracelet and the flowers for Valentine's Day. And: When were you going to tell me you broke up with Hale. And perhaps: Who's this new guy that you're with?"

"Oh, so that's it," I said, keeping my eyes straight ahead. "This is an interrogation."

"Sure is," my brother nodded. "Fess up."

"No."

Sirius and James both froze, so I sighed as I did, too. "What?"

James was staring at me, mouth open. "What do you mean: _No?_"

"I mean 'no'," I said simply. "I don't have to tell you anything that I don't want to tell you."

Remus and Peter chose that moment to jog up to us.

"I told you," Remus said triumphantly.

"Shut up, Moony," James muttered, eyes still locked on me.

"Jenny," Sirius said, but there was a serious note in his voice. "You know we're only concerned for your well being. You're our sister. We just want to make sure that you're not with some rat's arse of a bloke that isn't going to treat you right."

_He's not a rat's arse. He's your brother. And I love him. And I wish you knew._

I directed my next statement at James. "You didn't even want me to date Hale."

"At least I knew who you were dating!" he said. "And I was kind of starting to warm up to the kid, to be honest."

"We need to get to practice," I said.

I'd been in a much better mood since I'd broken up with Hale – not including the awkward passing glances and the curious whispers. The Marauders were ruining it and I wouldn't have it.

"I'm the captain," James reminded me. "If I need to, I can push the practice back. Or, if I need to, I can schedule another practice. We still have a few days to go before the Cup."

I rolled my eyes. "I'll call your bluff. There's no way that you would mess up the practice schedule this close to the most important match of the year. You're way too dedicated for that."

"I'm not just dedicated to Quidditch, you know," he said as he shifted from one foot to the other. "I'm dedicated to you. I'm your older brother. It's my responsibility to make sure that you're safe and that any guy you're involved with is treating you right. How can I do that if I don't even know who he is?"

"Trust me," I breathed. "You don't need to know. Just trust my judgment for once, okay?"

"No!" he shouted.

"James," Remus warned.

Peter looked like he would rather be anywhere else.

I didn't blame him.

"No!" James said to Remus and then turned back to me. "Why didn't you tell me that you'd broken up with Hale?"

"I was going to!" I said defensively. "But I couldn't find you directly afterwards and the next morning it seemed as though everyone knew already."

"Why did you two break up?" he asked.

Sirius, who had been studying me this whole time, asked, "Was it because of this other guy? Because you'd developed feelings for him and couldn't be with Hale anymore?"

Reluctantly, I nodded, figuring that the more I gave them, the less suspicious they would be. "Yes."

"You seemed… different this morning," James said softly, staring down at his shoes. "I've been asking you what's been wrong lately and you've told me nothing every time. But it was obviously something, because you seemed really happy this morning. More alive."

I said nothing.

James' eyes finally met mine again. "Is that because you feel better not having to live some sort of double life anymore?"

"Kind of," I sighed. "Now can we please get to practice?"

"You know we're not giving up," Sirius told me, crossing his arms over his chest. "We're not going to stop trying to figure out who this guy is. Not until you cave or we find out his name."

"I thought you might," I said softly. "But you forget that I'm a Marauder, too, and I know how to sneak around."

"We have the map, Jen," Remus reminded me gently. "We've already talked about just using that to track your movements."

James was grinning triumphantly.

"You don't have the map," I said. "I switched it with a blank piece of parchment during one of my breaks today."

All of their faces fell.

"Jen, just tell me!" James insisted. "Don't keep secrets from me!"

"You just don't understand how much I have to," I said and then turned and jogged down the hill, towards the Quidditch pitch.

~James' POV~

"It was kind of wrong of you to tell Jen that you were just going to track her every movement," Lily said diplomatically.

Practice had gone about as well as could be expected, under the circumstances. Jen had avoided me as much as she possibly could and as soon as the practice had been over, she'd fled from the field and disappeared to her room before I could pull her aside and try to drag the name out of her again.

So I'd gone straight to Lily to talk it all over with her.

"Well I can't do that anyway," I huffed. "Since I checked and it turns out that Jen did, indeed, steal the map."

"I can't believe you guys made a magical map of the castle in the first place," she said, not masking her amazement. "How, exactly, did that work?"

"Focus, Lily," I said, harsher than I'd meant to. "My sister could, at the moment, be shacking up with some… handsy Hufflepuff or something!"

She sighed and put her hand over mine. "Jen is old enough to make her own decisions about who to date, James. Maybe it's time to accept that and respect Jen's decisions. If she doesn't want you to know, that's her choice."

"It's killing me." I was begging her to understand. "You don't get it. When she was first born, I was only a little over a year old, but I can remember looking at her for the first time and feeling this… unbreakable bond. I knew, even then, that she would be one of the most important people in my life and that I had to take care of her."

"James-"

"I'm not done," I said. The words were rushing up my throat and pouring out of my mouth so fast that I didn't even have time to think about them before they jumped right off of the tip of my tongue. "And then at the beginning of this year, I suddenly realized that she'd grown from a little girl to an incredibly beautiful young woman and Sirius told me that other guys had noticed it a long time ago. And I made a vow then that I was going to look out for her and protect her from the guys that only want her for her body. She deserves a guy that realizes how intelligent and compassionate and loving and kind she is. Not just someone that notices her looks."

Lily smiled gently at me and reached out to grab my hand, lacing our fingers together. "I always wished that I had an older brother to take care of me sometimes. And if I did, I know I'd want it to be one who's as dedicated as you are to Jen."

I smiled back at her.

"_But_," she said carefully. "I stand by what I said earlier. Jen is a very smart girl, and she's quite capable of making her own decisions regarding her dating life."

"I can't just-"

She held up a hand to silence me. "For the time being, James, maybe it would be best to let her have her space. Let her know that you're always there for her if she needs to talk, but also let her know that you respect her wishes to keep her relationship to herself for a while."

"I would, Lily," I said slowly. "But I'm a Marauder. I'm an expert at hiding things. And I know that the things that people hide are either dangerous or embarrassing. And I don't like either of those mixing with my sister."

"I know," she said softly and moved closer to rest her head on my shoulder. "I know."


	57. Chapter 57

~Jen's POV~

"It's late, Jen," Madame Prince told me as she stopped by my table, her arms laden with books.

I glanced at my watch and was shocked to see that it really _was_ late. I'd been so lost in my book of fairy tales that I hadn't even realized how late it had gotten. Everyone else in the library had come and gone and I hadn't even noticed.

"I'm sorry," I apologized as I stood and swept the book into my bag. "You need me to leave, don't you?" My bag tipped out of my hand and I had to scramble to stuff everything back into it.

She laughed as she placed one of the books into its place on the shelf behind her. "If you want to stay, Jen, you're more than welcome. I never mind having you around. But I'd hate for you to be caught wandering around after hours…" She frowned as that thought sank in and she glanced at one of the library clocks. "Do you need me to write you a note, in case someone stops you on your way back to your room?"

I shook my head and placed the strap of the bag over my shoulder. "No, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm a prefect. I can pass it off as patrolling. In fact, I probably will do a bit of patrolling while I'm at it."

Her frown relaxed into a smile. "All right. If you're sure. Have a nice night, dear."

"You too, Madame Prince."

The corridor outside the library was dim and quiet, perhaps a bit spooky. But I'd spent enough time sneaking through the corridors after hours as a Marauder that I wasn't scared at all. I just leisurely strolled in the opposite direction of the Gryffindor rooms. I wasn't tired yet and it was a good idea to get some of my patrolling out of the way.

"If it isn't little Potter!" Peeves sing-songed as he glided through the far wall and towards me. "What is wee Potter up to?" he asked and then cackled. "A malicious prank? Count me in!"

"Not tonight, Peeves," I sighed. "Just patrolling. So stay out of trouble, will you?"

He mock saluted. "Where's Loony Lupin?"

"Loopy, I mean, _Lupin_," I corrected myself with a grimace. "Is probably working on studying for his exams."

Peeves' face lit up, if that was even possible for a ghost. "_Perfect! Loopy!_" He saluted me again, with more vigor, and then glided away while chanting: "Loopy, loony, Lupin. Loopy, loony, Lupin. Loopy, loony, Lupin…"

I groaned. "What have I done?"

After wandering the corridors for a few more minutes, I turned around and began heading back towards Gryffindor Tower. I was starting to feel a little bit drowsy and wanted to throw myself into my bed and sleep.

I heard the voice before I rounded the corner, but I couldn't place it until I saw him.

Big, broad-shouldered, well-muscled.

Tall.

Cropped black, greasy hair.

Wicked grin.

Pinning a first year against the wall.

Tanner Selby, a fifth year Slytherin known for his torture of the young ones and his stupidity.

"Stop!" I said, enraged. "Let him down!"

In his surprise, Tanner _did_ drop the first year, who immediately took off down the hall and out of sight.

When he saw that it was me, Tanner smiled and slunk a little closer. "Jennifer Potter. How wonderful to be graced with your lovely presence tonight."

I shuddered when I remembered the rumors of him raping a fifth year Hufflepuff two years before. It was never confirmed, though, considering that the Hufflepuff had been too terrified to speak out against him.

"Leave me alone," I snarled and reached for my wand, only to find that it wasn't where I usually put it after a trip to the library – right on top of all of my books. An image of my bag tipping over crossed my mind and I silently cursed myself. It had probably rolled under the table.

In any case, I didn't have it and that was terrifying, because his was already in his hand. And only Dumbledore was powerful enough to use any type of defensive wandless magic, that I knew of.

"What's wrong?" he asked me in a voice filled with fake concern. "Where's your wand, Jennifer?"

Bile rose in my throat when I remembered how bruised and battered the Hufflepuff girl had been. How terribly scared and skittish.

"Don't make me get it out, Selby," I bluffed. "I don't want to have to report you. Just go back to your dorm. It's past curfew."

"Then you shouldn't be out here all by yourself." He took a step closer to me, his wicked grin causing my stomach to curdle. "Especially without your wand. Don't you know better?"

I took a step away from him and rolled my eyes, faking my bravery. "Just quit being an idiot."

He grabbed my arm as I tried to step around him and shoved me roughly against the wall, his acrid breath hot against my face. "Where you goin', sweetheart? I have _lots_ of things I've been wanting to try with you for quite some time now."

I punched him in the stomach, but it had little effect on him, other than to make him angrier. "You little-" He pulled his hand back to hit me and I closed my eyes, bracing for the impact.

"_Stop!_" a booming voice rang out.

Tanner dropped me in surprise and stumbled back. "Come on, Black, I was just having a bit of fun."

I opened my eyes and sagged against the wall in relief when I saw that Regulus was walking down the corridor towards us, broom in one hand and the other hand clenched into a tight fist. There was fire in his eyes.

"Fun?" he said in disbelief and stopped just short of the other boy. "You're an idiot, Selby. She's a _prefect_. You're going to get into some serious trouble if you don't get out of here right _now_."

Tanner looked disappointed. "But I was just-"

"_Now_," Regulus growled.

Tanner started and then turned and fled the corridor.

Regulus spun on me, dropped his broom, and crossed the distance between us in two steps. Once close enough, he gripped my arms and shook me. "Why the hell are you here without your wand, Jen?! Why?! Do you have _any_ idea what he wanted to do to you?! What he's done to other girls?!"

Tears stung my eyes. "Regulus, please, stop."

His eyes widened and he released me, the loss causing me to stumble backwards and into the wall.

"I'm sorry," he croaked. "I… I didn't mean to… Jen…"

I reached for him and he folded me into his arms, kissing my hair. "Jen, I'm so sorry. I was so scared. So, so scared for you."

"Thank you," I whispered into his chest and felt myself begin to tremble.

He felt it, too. "Shh, Jen. It's okay, love. He can't hurt you."

"My wand is in the library," I said weakly, as if I owed him an explanation. "My bag tipped over and it must have rolled under the table…"

"It's okay," he said again, still holding me tight. "We'll go and get it and then I'll walk you to Gryffindor Tower."

I pulled away from him and stood on the balls of my feet to press a kiss to his lips. "Thank you for saving me."

He gave me a small, tender smile. "I'll always do everything in my power to save you."

"Come on." I linked my fingers through his. "Let's go find my wand."

~James' POV~

"He was _WHAT_?!" I thundered.

Not even Lily told me to calm down.

There was _no_ calming down after news like that.

"Shaking her," Peter repeated, looking a little terrified by my outburst. "And shouting something at her, but I couldn't hear the words because they were echoing the other way."

"And you didn't try to do _anything_ about it?!" I bellowed at him.

He shrank back against the wall. "I was going to, I swear! But then he shoved her against the wall. He let her go!"

"You didn't stay to make sure she was all right?!" Sirius asked, joining me. "You just _walked away_?!"

"She looked fine!" Peter said defensively, though he was shaking. "Maybe a little scared, but she was all right!"

"Where is she now?" I demanded.

"He doesn't know," Sirius said, disgusted. "He left."

Remus silenced Peter with a look before he could defend himself.

"My rat's arse of a brother," Sirius growled. "How _dare_ he? What was he trying to accomplish?"

"The Quidditch Cup," I realized. "He was trying to threaten her into losing the Quidditch Cup."

"It won't work," Sirius said. "Not on Jen. He's not going to get close to her again."

"If he tries…" I said, my voice low. "I'll rip him apart."

"I'll help," Sirius readily volunteered.

"We all will, James," Lily said softly as she stood up to soothe me.


	58. Chapter 58

~Jen's POV~

"The voices just aren't blending, are they?" Professor Flitwick sighed as he watched my duet partner leave. He sounded dejected. "It wouldn't do any good to get you a new partner right now, anyway. He's the best singer we have… or so I thought. But it's just not quite working out."

"I'm sure we'll figure something out," I said to reassure him. "Maybe it's just going to take some time."

"More than half of the year is gone!" he said, exasperated. "How much more time is it going to take? The competition is in a month!"

I wanted to suggest Regulus to him, but didn't know how. That would be an awful lot of explaining to do.

"We'll figure it out," I said instead.

He sighed and gave me a small smile. "I hope you're right, Jen."

"Me too," I said and gathered my bag. "Bye, Professor."

"Good bye, Ms. Potter."

I had barely taken a step outside when arms grabbed me and hauled me down the corridor. "What the-"

"Shh!" Sirius commanded. "We need to talk."

"While I'm being drug down the corridor?"

"I wouldn't have to drag you if you would _walk_."

I began cooperating just a little. "Where are we going?"

"Here." He opened the door to the empty History of Magic classroom.

"Why?" I asked as I stepped inside. "History of Magic was your worst subject."

"You're forgetting Divination," Remus said from his seat at one of the desks. "He was awful at that, as well."

"And Herbology," Peter added.

My brother spoke up from the front of the room, right about where Professor Binns would have stood. "As much as I'd love to list the things that Sirius isn't good at, I'd much rather discuss what we came here to discuss. I have plans."

I grinned and set my bag down atop an empty desk. "What kind of plans? What will you and Lily be doing tonight?"

He blushed slightly. "None of your business. Sit down, Jen."

I did as I was told and folded my hands on top of the desk. "What's up?"

The boys slowly moved so that they were gathered around me, their expressions somber.

It slapped the smile right off of my face. "I'm guessing we didn't gather here to come up with nicknames to put on our banners against the Slytherins at the Quidditch match," I said, trying to lighten the mood. "You know, Slimy Sally."

"No, but thanks for _my_ new nickname," Remus said, a wry smile twisting up the corner of his mouth. "Loopy, loony Lupin certainly has a much better ring to it. The extra adjective really adds flavor."

James held up a hand. "We can talk about that later." His hazel eyes focused on mine. "Why haven't you come to me about Regulus yet?"

My heart forgot how to beat. I forgot how to breathe.

_How did he find out?! We've been so careful! I've had the map with me at all times! No one's seen us together! We're careful not to look at each other too much! I haven't said anything about it to anyone!_

"It's okay, Jen," he said quickly, putting a comforting hand on my arm as he sat backwards in the desk in front of mine. "He acted horribly and he's going to pay for it. We don't think you're weak."

I was lost.

_What is he talking about? When did he act horribly?_

That's when I knew that they didn't know the whole truth.

"Umm…" I said uncertainly.

"Peter told us," Sirius said, thinking that was my question. "He said that he saw Regulus corner you in the hall and shake you and yell at you and shove you against the wall." His eyes were hard. "Did he do anything else?"

I glanced at Peter, who was fidgeting.

_At least he only saw that and came to the conclusion that he did. At least he didn't see Regulus holding me or whispering into my hair or kissing me…_

"Um, no," I said, using all of my Marauder training to lie convincingly. "That was it."

"He was trying to scare you out of competing at the Quidditch Cup, wasn't he?" James said angrily. And then he spoke again before I could answer. "I knew it! That infuriating arse! We have to do something about it!"

_No!_

I couldn't let them go after Regulus. Especially because he wouldn't be expecting it.

"You don't need to," I said, my brain whirling at top speed, trying to come up with a solution. I looked at Peter. "How much did you see?"

"Just what Sirius said," he answered softly.

I forced my mouth to curve into a sly grin. "Oh, then you didn't see the part where I reached for my wand and hexed him into next Tuesday?"

The Marauders' expressions changed from angry, to shocked, to happy.

"Jen!" James said happily.

"Good girl!" Sirius followed, clapping me on the shoulder. "I would have liked to see that."

"See, Wormtail?" James said, his tone slightly mocking. "You should have stuck around after all. You would have gotten to see a hell of a hexing."

Peter blushed.

I stood, heart pounding, and grabbed my bag. "Was that all you needed?"

"I guess so," James said.

I grinned at him. "Great. Have fun with Lily, then." And then I turned and walked out the door, planning to go find Regulus immediately and warn him.

~James' POV~

"Where are we going?" Lily laughed, but she didn't try to pull her hand away from mine as I pulled her along after me. She wasn't moving as quickly as I would have liked, but she didn't fully realize what was happening, so she wasn't as excited as I was.

"Where do you think we're going?" I asked her, grinning despite the uncomfortable pounding of my heart.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, obviously we're headed to the Quidditch pitch, but if you think you're going to get me up in the air on a broom, you're mistaken. I am never flying again."

"Not flying," I promised her. "Just a picnic."

We arrived and she gasped as her eyes took everything in. The comfortable quilt that was spread out in the middle of the pitch. The white candles that gave off a dim glow. The delicious food that I'd set out – that I'd had the house elves make for me. The soft music that was playing from the radio in one corner of the quilt.

"Too much?" I asked her nervously as I, too, looked at everything. "Maybe too many candles? Or too much-"

She cut me off with a kiss. "I love it, James. It's perfect. Very romantic."

"Sirius came up with the whole idea," I lied as I pulled her closer to our picnic.

She laughed and lightly hit my arm. "You don't fool me, James Potter. I know that you're a romantic."

I sighed. "I guess I'm caught, then."

"Yes, you are."

We both sat down and I offered her a butterbeer. "Drink up."

"How'd you get this?" she wondered as she twisted the top off. "Our next Hogsmeade trip isn't for a while."

I grinned. "Marauder secret."

"Of course," she said and took a long drink.

We made it through the pasta and the artichoke dip and as we ate, we talked of anything and everything. And as we talked, I grew more and more nervous. I couldn't remember what the exact words of my speech were and though I could face five defenders with only the Quaffle in my hands, this terrified me.

"Dessert?" Lily asked.

"Not yet," I murmured and took a deep breath. "We can have dessert after…"

Her eyebrows raised in confusion. "After what? A flying lesson? I already told you no."

"Not that." I ran a hand roughly through my hair and then sighed. "I don't… I don't remember how I was going to do this." I gave a nervous laugh.

She looked even more confused. "How you were going to do what, James?"

I heaved a frustrated sigh and then rolled slightly so that I was on one knee before her. "I guess I should just come out and say it. Lily, I've been hopelessly in love with you since our first year at Hogwarts and you made my life a hundred times better when you finally agreed to date me this year."

"James…" she breathed as realization began to set in and her eyes widened.

I gave her a shaky smile as I reached into my pocket and pulled out the box, opening it to reveal the ring that I had picked out for her. "So, Lily Evans, I would love it if you would make my life a _million_ times better by agreeing to become my wife."

A single tear fell from her eye as she lunged forward and hugged me. "Yes, James! Of course, yes!"

I hugged her tight and we fell over, kissing and clinging to each other.

And I was never going to let her go.


	59. Chapter 59

~James' POV~

"I just have one question," Sirius said solemnly after everyone – well, Jen and Lily – had finished gushing over the ring and the proposal story.

I draped one arm around my betrothed and addressed him. "What's that, mate?"

"It's not for you," Sirius said. "It's for Lily."

Lily raised one eyebrow at him. "Oh?"

He nodded and then leaned a little closer, his eyes narrowing. "Does this mean that you'll get off my arse about homework, now that you have wedding plans to worry about?"

"Sirius!" Lily and I chorused.

He held up his hands innocently. "It's a legitimate question!"

Jen picked up a twig that had broken off of the tree we were sitting under and used it to whack him upside the head. Twice.

"That's why you're my favorite sister," I told her with a grin.

She rolled her eyes as she tossed the twig in the direction of the lake. "I'm your only sister."

"And my maid of honor?" Lily questioned.

Jen's eyes widened and she stuttered, "But… but your sister! Won't you want _her _to be your maid of honor?"

Lily sighed and rested her head against my shoulder. "Petunia doesn't approve of my magic or my choice in partner. I doubt she'll want to attend the wedding." She looked at my sister again. "So, will you be my maid of honor?"

Jen beamed. "I'd love to."

"Of course, that means you'll have to walk with Sirius, as he's going to be my best man," I pointed out.

Jen twisted around. "I'm going to need that twig back."

"Oi!" Sirius gripped his head protectively. "I can behave myself! There's no need to go looking for that twig!"

"Where's the wedding going to be?" Peter asked.

"And _when_?" Remus added.

"We haven't decided yet," Lily said.

At the same time, I said, "Soon."

Everyone laughed.

"Do it this summer," Jen suggested. "Late in the summer, so you'll have time to plan and the planning won't interrupt your exam preparations."

Lily shot a look at Sirius. "See? Some of us know how important it is to do well in school."

"I guess that's a 'no' to my earlier question," he sighed.

I kicked him.

"Oi!" he said and scooted away. "You Potters are violent people."

"Which we'll need tomorrow on the Quidditch pitch," I said and grinned at my sister. "Right, Jen?"

"Right," she said. "We're taking the Slytherins out for good."

Lily turned to her, scooting out from under my arm. "So, let's say that we had the wedding in early August…"

"I think that's our cue to leave, boys," I said and pressed a kiss to Lily's head as I stood.

"I'm in," Sirius said, and Remus and Peter followed behind us.

~Jen's POV~

"Hey, you."

Regulus turned away from the fire and smiled at me. "Hey. You look pretty overjoyed."

"Of course I am," I teased. "I get to see you."

He laughed as he sat on the small couch and patted the space beside him. "I'm not quite _that_ spectacular. Close, though. What's up?"

"James and Lily got engaged."

His smile turned into a grin. "That's great!"

"I know." I dropped down beside him and sighed happily. "He's only been chasing her since he was eleven."

Regulus laughed. "The unrequited love is finally requited."

"And they're both very happy," I sighed dreamily and leaned into him, letting his arms wrap around me and pull me in closer. "So, of course, I'm happy that they're happy."

"Is that something that you would want, eventually?" he murmured into my hair. "To get married, have a nice house, a nice job, kids?"

"It didn't used to be," I admitted with a sheepish smile. "I mean, I wanted a nice job and a house, but I hadn't given much thought to the whole marriage and kids part. But now…" I leaned away from him so that I could see his face and gauge his reaction. "I don't know… just seeing James and Lily together and knowing how happy they're going to be in their life with each other… It just makes me reconsider everything. And that includes marriage and kids. I think that _is_ something I'd want."

His smile was joyous. "Good. Me too."

As he leaned in to kiss me, I said, "But no kids until after we both feel comfortable with it."

"Deal," he murmured against my lips.

~James' POV~

"What are you thinking about?" I asked.

"Nothing much," she sighed. As we walked, her face was turned towards the lake, so I was unable to read her expression. And yet, I was able to tell that something was bothering her.

"Lily." I pulled us to a stop and reeled her in close to me. "Will you tell me what you've been thinking about for the entire duration of our walk?"

She tried to give me a coy smile, but it turned into a grimace instead. "Who says I haven't just been playing hard to get?"

I picked up her left hand and showed her the ring on it. "I've already got you. Now what's wrong?"

"You don't have me yet, you know," she teased. "Not until there's another ring to join this one."

"That'll come soon enough."

"Which reminds me that Jen and I never nailed down a positive date for the-"

"Lily," I warned.

She sighed. "You caught me."

I pulled her closer and kissed her temple. "What's bothering you?"

"Everything." She wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tight. "My sister, for one thing. I wrote her of the engagement and my owl flew back without a response. My parents seemed happy, but I know they're worried about what I've managed to tell them of the upcoming war. And I have all these wedding plans to be worried about in addition to schoolwork and trying to get a suitable job that will still give me time to-"

"Lily," I interrupted, laughing. "You always make things so much more complicated than they are."

"I am not!" she huffed and pulled away from me. "There's a lot to plan and so much to get done!"

"I'm sure there is." I took her face in my hands. "And that's why you have me. I'll help you with the wedding plans and whatever else you need. And my parents would love to help. And I'm sure I can rope the other Marauders into doing things, too."

She relaxed back into my arms. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

After a few moments like that, she pulled away and kissed me once, lightly. "Come on, Captain, to bed with you. You have a big match tomorrow."

~Jen's POV~

Fire.

Fire.

Fire.

He set me on fire with every glance, every caress, every kiss.

It wasn't a fire that people could gather around, either. Not just a pile of wood burning. It was an entire forest. A blazing inferno, destroying everything in its path with its vicious and passionate heat.

Consuming.

"I love you, you know," he murmured against the skin of my neck.

My fingers, tangled in his soft black hair, pulled his head up so that our lips could meet. "I know."

More flames. Hotter. Wilder.

Kissing Regulus was like I'd been deprived of air for so long and then there it was… filling me, sustaining me. And I had no intention of ever letting it go again. Even though I had lived without it before, I needed it. I wanted it. So very badly.

He slid my jeans down my legs and crawled over me once again, his lips trailing up over my jaw as his fingers traced my thighs. Higher… Higher… Higher…

"Regulus." I jerked away.

He froze.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, heat flooding to my face. "Can we… um… can we slow it down a little bit?"

He didn't look the least bit disappointed. He only smiled and nodded. "Yeah, sure, Jen."

I smiled gratefully and pulled him back to me, kissing him once again. He was more careful with where he put his hands this time, and it didn't take long for the flames to consume us once more. Burning us alive together. Not that either of us minded.

He was the one that pulled away next. "We should stop."

"What?" I asked. "Why?" He'd never asked questions of me when I'd asked to stop, but when the roles were reversed, I found that I wasn't nearly as patient as he was.

"Because we have a match tomorrow." He chuckled softly. "And it's already midnight. We both need to get some rest."

I looked at the clock, astonished. "Bloody hell! It _is_ midnight."

He laughed and pressed a kiss to my hair. "I'll walk you to Gryffindor Tower."

"No." I pulled him back down onto the couch beside me and curled my body around his so that we both fit comfortably. "Let's just stay here tonight."

"You sure?" he asked, but his arms were already wrapping around me.

"I'm positive," I whispered and we continued kissing until we were both too exhausted to continue.

And then we fell asleep in each other's arms.


	60. Chapter 60

~James' POV~

"Rise and shine, Captain!"

I groaned and pulled the pillow over my head. "Leave me alone."

"What was that?" Sirius asked. "Did he say 'flip me over'?"

"I think he did," Remus concurred.

Realization hit me and I threw the pillow off. "No! Wait!"

But the three of them had grabbed my mattress and with a mighty heave, they tipped it over so that I went sprawling onto the floor, now wide awake. I rose to my knees and shot them the iciest glare that I could manage for so early in the morning.

Sirius was beaming. "You're welcome, mate. Now come on, your breakfast awaits."

"How are _you_ so awake?" I grumbled as I rose to my feet and began searching for my clothes.

He frowned thoughtfully. "You know… I really don't know. Maybe it was because of the dream I had last night. I was walking through the Black Lake and there were these girls…"

"That's enough," I said quickly.

"I have to agree," Remus said.

Peter looked kind of disappointed.

"You sure?" Sirius asked, plopping down onto his bed. "There's a really good part where I take one of the girls with me and we-"

"Thanks, Sirius," I interrupted as I pulled a plain T-shirt over my head. "What time is it?"

"Three hours before match time," Remus said. "Lily's waiting downstairs to go to breakfast with you."

I grinned as I grabbed my Quidditch robes and my broom. "I won't keep her waiting, then."

"You know, that should have been our plan all along," Sirius told Remus and Peter as they followed me out of the room. "We should have just brought Lily up and had _her_ wake up James. She probably would have been faster."

"I don't think I would have wanted to see that." Remus shuddered.

"Good point, mate," Sirius agreed.

Lily was, indeed, waiting for me in the common room and she beamed when I came in. "Hey, Captain. Ready for the match?"

"So ready," I replied and gave her a quick kiss. "Breakfast?"

"Yep." She linked her arm through mine and we took off, my three roommates behind us.

"How do you think it's going to go?" she asked me.

"It'll be a tough match," I admitted. No point in lying. "But in the end, I think we'll pull through. We can win this thing if we put our minds to it."

"And if Regulus keeps away from Jen," Sirius added, a strong note of annoyance in his voice. "We don't need her falling off of her broom."

"She's gotten a lot better," I reminded him. "She'd be a match for him. He'd have to really work at it this time."

"That's true," Sirius grinned. "And I can't wait to watch that action."

The Great Hall was nearly full with students eating their breakfasts and chattering. The Quidditch Cup match was a big deal, and no one wanted to chance missing it because they'd overslept.

The Gryffindor table cheered when they saw me.

I raised my hand in greeting and smiled as I sat down, pulling Lily with me.

"You're their hero," she said, smiling, as she ladled some eggs onto her plate.

"We're _all_ their heroes," I said and laughed when they gave Diego the same greeting.

"Captain," he said, giving me a nod and a smile.

"Jen's not here yet," Sirius commented.

"She will be," I said. "I'll bet she had the same problems getting out of bed as I did." I glared at him. "But I'll bet _her_ roommates won't flip her mattress over."

He raised his hands in mock innocence. "Moony and I both agreed that you said 'flip me over'."

"Your voice was awful muffled by that pillow," Remus said diplomatically as he buttered a piece of toast. "It was hard to tell."

Lily laughed. "I don't even want to know."

Sirius told her anyway.

And I kicked him under the table.

"So, seriously," he said after he'd finished complaining about how I'd probably bruised his shin. "Where's Jen?" He was looking up and down the Gryffindor table. "The rest of the team is here already."

I looked and found that it was as he said. The rest of the Quidditch team was at the table, eating and doing their best not to appear too nervous.

"She'll be here," I said with a shrug. "Like I said, she was probably just really tired when she woke up and it's taking her a while."

But she didn't come in with her roommates.

And she didn't come in shortly thereafter.

And soon, my eating turned into waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting…

~Jen's POV~

I rolled over and would have fallen off of the narrow couch if Regulus' arm hadn't tightened around my waist, saving me.

I groaned. "I forgot that I was on this couch and not in my bed."

He chuckled. "Apparently." His morning voice was gruff, but endearing.

"Don't make fun." I rolled over in his arms to face him. "I could have been seriously injured. And then where would we be?"

"In the hospital wing?"

I hit his chest but couldn't fight my smile. "I was serious."

"Clearly." He leaned in and pressed his lips gently to mine, his morning stubble scratching my face.

I giggled and pulled away. "You need to shave."

"I was thinking of growing it out."

"Well stop thinking about it," I replied as I sat up, blushing when I realized that I was wearing only a bra and panties.

Regulus was in an equal state, but he didn't seem to mind it. "Why?"

"I don't do facial hair." I shuddered. "Ever."

He sighed, but smiled as he sat up and pulled me closer. "Okay, then. No beard."

"Thanks," I said and leaned in to kiss him.

"You move an awful lot when you sleep," he commented when we pulled apart. "You kept adjusting yourself. Drove me crazy."

I laughed. "I don't usually move. I think it was because this couch is so narrow." I shrugged. "Or because I'm not used to sleeping with someone next to me."

The grin that he gave me was both teasing and utterly serious. "Get used to it."

I pulled him back in. "Love to."

We kissed, our tongues meeting as we both sighed in contentment. I wound my arms around his neck, playing with the hair at the back of his head as his arms wound around my waist and pulled me closer. My whole body was tingling in excitement. I broke away and my lips touched his cheek, his jaw, his neck…

"Bloody hell, Jen!"

I jumped back, surprised. "What? Did I do something wrong?"

His eyes were wide in something like horror. "We have to go." He jumped up and began pulling his jeans on frantically.

"If… if I did something wrong… Regulus…"

He spun around and gripped my arms. "Jen, it's Saturday."

Slow to understand, I raised my eyebrows in confusion. "Yeah, but…"

"Jen, _the_ Saturday. The Quidditch Cup match is today. It starts in thirty minutes."

I cursed loudly and joined him in frantically pulling on clothes. We both raced out of the room without any words of goodbye and I sprinted to Gryffindor Tower, luckily not having to dodge around anybody because everybody was already at the pitch.

I continued to curse as I rapidly changed into my Quidditch robes, fixed my hair into a messy bun, and grabbed my broom. Deciding that running through the castle would be too much of a hassle, I went to the window, opened it, and stepped out onto the edge.

I took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing."

And then I jumped, sweeping my broom under me. It caught in the air and I steadied myself before I rocketed towards the pitch at full speed.

I made it just in time. The team was lining up to fly out.

"Jen!"

"You made it!"

"We were worried!"

"Thank Merlin you're here!"

My brother's look was one of both relief and anger. "Jen, where the bloody hell have you been?!"

"I'm sorry," I apologized quickly as I swung my leg over my broom and listened to the announcer calling for the Slytherins to fly out. There were both cheers and boos. I wondered if Regulus had made it in time…

"Jen." He caught my arm. "Where were you? Your roommates said that they hadn't seen you. You didn't sleep in. What the hell happened?"

"Nothing," I said, the lie catching in my throat.

"Jen," he growled.

"Look, we need to focus on the match, Captain," I hissed.

"Well, right now I'm focused on _you_. We looked _everywhere_, Jen, and we couldn't find you. We even got Lily to steal the map back from your room and you weren't anywhere on it!"

"You had Lily go through my things?" I cried angrily. "You had no right to do that!"

"I was worried!" he defended.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the announcer called.

James gave me a fierce look. "This isn't over."

_No, it's really not._


	61. Chapter 61

~James' POV~

I was seething as we flew out onto the pitch, oblivious to the cheers and the boos because the rushing of the wind and my own anger drowned them out. Jen had had me worried _sick_ and she acted like I was horrible for trying to do everything within my power to find her. She'd been missing, for Merlin's sake! No one had known where she was or even had any idea! And then she just shows up at the last second, thinking that I'm going to just shrug and fly out onto the pitch with her? Hell, no.

I landed on the ground, still shaking with anger. Madame Hooch was holding the Quaffle in the crook of her elbow and she looked between me and the Slytherin captain. "You two have been playing long enough; you know the rules. I want a nice clean game from _everyone_. Captains, shake hands and good luck."

We shook hands and then I was back on my broom, pushing up into the air, my eyes searching for Jen. She was hovering in her usual spot, far above everyone else where she would have a bird's eye view.

Madame Hooch opened the case at her feet and the two Bludgers flew out, followed by the Snitch. I looked up at Jen, expecting her eyes to have already latched onto the Snitch, but she didn't seem to be paying any attention to it. She was looking at something else.

I followed her eye line to Regulus Black, who was hovering in a position mirroring hers, also looking at her.

_Now's no time for hate stares, Jen!_ I wanted to shout.

But before I could, Madame Hooch was shouting, "On my whistle!"

The whistle blew.

The Quaffle was in the air.

The match had begun.

Diego managed to swoop in and grab the Quaffle, but he didn't get far with it before two Slytherins rammed into him. As hard as he tried to hold on, he dropped it. Neil caught it and passed it to me, and I took off for the goal posts.

Their Keeper blocked my initial shot, but when he tried to throw it back to his team, Diego intercepted it and hurled it at the middle post, his anger at being rammed evident in his battle cry. The Quaffle sailed through before the Keeper could get his arms around it.

"Ten points to Gryffindor!"

"Good shot!" I called to Diego as we flew back to play defense. "Keep your anger in check!"

He managed a small smile. "You got it, Captain."

The Slytherin Chasers flew in a united front towards us.

"From below!" I shouted and Neil, Diego, and I dived.

When we were under them, we came up and created chaos, which caused the one handling the Quaffle to drop it right into my arms. I made a shot, but then the Slytherins got more aggressive and they made several right in a row before one of them got called for a penalty and I made the penalty goal.

Then, they became slightly less aggressive, for fear of losing the game due to penalty shots. Not even five minutes after my penalty shot, I saw Drake falling off of his broom out of the corner of my eye.

"Damn Regulus Black!" I cursed.

"It wasn't Regulus!" Diego called as he raced alongside me.

"It wasn't?" I asked in surprise.

He shook his head and dived to avoid being hit by a Bludger. "It was one of the Beaters."

"Damn," I cursed again. "Kevin's going to have to pick up the slack for his brother."

"Being down a Beater will be hard," Diego said and managed to help Michael block a Slytherin's shot. "James!"

I caught the Quaffle and passed it off to Neil. "Rocket! Go!"

He shot off, narrowly escaping a Bludger.

He missed the goal, but Diego came from behind like before and stole the pass before scoring.

"That's what I like to see!" I called. "Keep it up!"

I was growing tired and I could tell that everyone else was, too. The wind was also pretty brutal, sometimes stinging my eyes so badly that I wanted to just keep them closed for the rest of the match. Jen had to be having poor visibility, which meant that the match would go on longer because she would need more time to search for the Snitch. We were just going to have to endure and hoped that she'd be able to pull through for us.

And not get knocked off of her broom in the process.

~Jen's POV~

"Damn wind!" I cursed as another strong gust came and not only stung my eyes, but caused me to drift sideways. I wasn't in danger of coming off, but I was in danger of crashing if the wind grew too strong. I wasn't heavy enough to keep it where I needed it.

"Careful, Jen!" Kevin called as he flew past in pursuit of a Bludger.

His brother, Drake, had been tricked into falling off of his broom by a Slytherin Beater, so he was the only one we had to protect us from the cruel Bludgers. He was taking his job seriously, though, and none of us had been hit yet. Probably because he had sent a Bludger into the side of one of their Beater's heads that hadn't knocked him off of his broom, but seemed to have made him disoriented.

The Snitch was nowhere in sight.

I cursed myself for not having been watching it from the moment it escaped its holding, but Regulus had caught my eye and we'd been sharing one of our looks that had a thousand meanings.

_I love you_, it had said.

_Last night was wonderful_, it had said.

_Be careful,_ it had said.

My eyes immediately wandered to the object of my thoughts, who was gliding through the air all the way across the pitch, searching for the Snitch. I saw him scanning the ground below and knew that the frown he wore meant that he wasn't having any luck.

_Maybe that's it!_ I thought, inspiration striking. _Maybe it isn't below. Maybe it's up._

I guided my broom up and gave it a burst of speed, shooting upwards, the wind trying to push me back down. I gritted my teeth and continued upwards until I was satisfied that I had gone high enough.

Then, I began to search below, surprised that the players looked small to me. I had gone higher than I had originally intended to because I had overcompensated for the wind being so strong.

"Jen Potter," a voice said and I whirled on my broom to see one of the Slytherin Beaters grinning at me. "Thank you for coming up here and making my job a hell of a lot easier."

He then came at me with his Beater's bat, and I quickly rolled.

Except right at that moment, there was a gust of wind that rolled me the _other_ way.

Right into his bat.

The combined force of his swing and the wind was enough to send me sailing off of my broom.

I suddenly felt very heavy indeed as gravity took over and I began to fall, hurtling toward the ground.

I'd hurtled towards the ground before, of course, but this was very different, considering that I didn't have my broom. I didn't feel safe. I felt terrified.

I twisted in the air, back to the ground, and heard the crowd gasp as I came into view.

And then, there was a flash of gold.

The Snitch.

Just beyond me, diagonally.

And Regulus was racing toward it.

No… not toward the Snitch.

Towards _me_.

The grim determination on his face made him look older. Tougher. Invincible.

He closed in on me and grabbed my hand, stopping my fall and ripping my shoulder from its socket.

I cried out and then whimpered. "The Snitch."

"Jen," he said, tightening his hold as the wind picked up and tried to rip me from his grasp. "Jen, hold on."

I did.

Slowly, he brought us towards the ground.

"My broom," I said, but my words were carried away in the wind.

The wind that then caused me to be ripped out of his arms.

"Jen!" he shouted, but I was sure that I was the only one that could hear it, because the wind carried his voice to me.

The rest of it is a blur, really.

I remember falling, feeling weightless as I hurtled toward the ground and certain doom.

I remember seeing Regulus racing for me, fighting the wind to get to me.

I remember him falling off of his broom when he tried to reach for me and I was ripped away yet again by the wind.

I remember falling and seeing a flash of gold near my arm.

I remember Regulus' arms wrapping around me as he shouted something, an incantation.

I remember him breaking my fall.

I remember the blackness.


	62. Chapter 62

~James' POV~

"All in all, Mr. Potter, she's going to be just fine," Madame Pomfrey told me in her no-nonsense voice. "She took a _very_ nasty fall, yes, but it was broken many times so that she didn't suffer the full damage. I've repaired everything from the fall except for the bruises, but I expect she can live with a few of those. She's had worse."

"When will she wake up?" I asked her, not caring at the worry in my voice. _God, Jen, I'm so sorry. The last thing I said to you was in anger…_

"Not anytime soon, I would say," she replied and gathered up her healing potions. "Nasty falls like that take quite a while to recover from. She needs _rest_." She gave the group of us a pointed look, one that caused the rest of my teammates to slink away, abashed.

The Marauders and Lily stayed, however.

Lily gripped my hand reassuringly.

Madame Pomfrey seemed to realize that we weren't leaving anytime soon. "Really, you bunch, it would be better if you weren't around. Her spirit needs rest too. She needs complete physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual rest. She's not going to get that if the lot of you are hanging around by her bed."

I gave her a hard look.

She sighed and raised her hands in aggravated surrender. "Fine, fine. Suit yourselves."

"Peter and I will go," Remus said and nodded to Peter, who quickly left.

Remus put a hand on Jen's arm. "Heal quickly, Jen." And then he, too, left.

"I can't believe this," I said as I sank into a chair. "I can't believe this happened."

"James," Lily said in a soothing voice as she sat in the chair next to me and rubbed my arm. "It isn't your fault. These things happen in Quidditch. It's a dangerous sport. You know that."

"I was _so_ mad at her," I admitted, tears stinging my eyes. "I was yelling at her. In front of everyone on our team. I was mad that she was late, scared that she hadn't been going to show up at all. I wanted to know where she'd been, what she'd been doing, but she wouldn't tell me. I was _so_ mad. I had a whole lecture prepared for after the match. I was going to yell at her some more. And now…" My voice sounded broken and I didn't care. "Merlin, Lily, what if she had died?"

"Shh," Lily murmured. She ran a hand gently through my hair. "She didn't, James. She's right here and she's safe."

"But it could have been so much worse," I said and let the tears go. They silently trailed down my cheeks. "She could have died, and the last words that I would have spoken to her would have been words of anger."

She hugged me from the side, pressing a kiss into my hair. "Oh, James."

"I'm horrible," I croaked.

Sirius' hand came down on my shoulder. "This isn't your fault, mate. My brother's the one that knocked her off of her broom." He was clearly very angry about this fact. "It's his fault. And we're going to make him pay."

Lily raised her head, obviously confused. "Are you sure it was his fault?"

"Lily," Sirius said as if she were stupid, "I watched them fall together. He tried to make her fall and ended up falling himself." He snorted. "Which he deserved, by the way." He glanced at the bed where Regulus was, out of it just like Jen. "Should have been worse."

Lily shook her head slowly, just as she did when she was trying to sort out facts. "But… he caught her. Right after she fell that first time from way up high. Didn't you see that?"

"He didn't want to be brought up on murder charges," Sirius shrugged. "He realized that he'd knocked her off from too high and he had to do it lower. He was carrying her towards the ground to drop her closer. Didn't _you_ see _that_?"

Lily bit her lip. "I… I'm not quite sure what I saw."

"I am," Sirius said.

"Me too," I muttered.

Lily sighed. "Maybe we should…"

"I need to write my parents," I said abruptly and stood, cutting her off. "Mum was sick, so they couldn't come to the match, but they need to know about this and know that she's okay."

Lily nodded and gave me a gentle smile. "Yes, you should do that, James."

I looked at my sister, my heart breaking. She looked so small and fragile in that bed, her face spotted with bruises and cuts that would heal once she drank a potion when she woke up.

"Lily?"

"Yes?" she asked.

"Will you stay with her?" I whispered. "Sirius and I are going to go send the letter and then we'll be right back. I just don't want her to wake up alone." My eyes darted to Regulus. "Especially not with _him_ in the room."

She nodded at me. "Of course I'll stay with her."

I gave her a grateful nod. "Thank you."

And Sirius and I left.

~Jen's POV~

My world was full of blackness, and I was scared that it was going to stay that way. I'd never been afraid of the dark, not really, but I liked the light too much to be okay with staying in the darkness forever.

"Jen?"

Slowly, I became aware of the pain in my body. I tried to isolate it, but realized that I couldn't, because it was my entire body that hurt, not just one area. It was like I'd been a punching bag or something. The pain was a single, dull ache throughout my entire body. Even my head was pounding with the pain of it.

"Jen?"

The voice wasn't James', which had been what I'd been expecting. He was always the one that was there when I woke up from darkness. He was always there for me when I needed him, and I needed him.

_James, where are you?_

"Jen?"

Slowly, oh so slowly, I opened my eyes.

The face that I saw was pale, the eyes bright green and full of concern. The hair that framed the face was a flaming color, brilliant in its radiance, even in the dimness of the room.

"Lily." I winced when I heard my voice. It sounded like it had been dragged through a cheese grater before it came out.

Relief flooded her features. "Thank Merlin you woke up, Jen. James just went to send a letter to your parents telling them you're okay. He should be back down here shortly."

"I don't…" It was like I couldn't form sentences anymore. "I don't… what happened?"

"You fell off of your broom at the match, Jen," she said gently, resting a hand comfortingly on my arm. "And I know you don't want to hear this, but Gryffindor lost the match. Regulus was falling, too, and somehow while you two were falling towards the ground he caught the Snitch. It was trapped under his hand…"

_Regulus_.

"Regulus!" I said in alarm, remembering how his arms had wrapped around me and his body had taken the brunt of the impact.

An image of him reaching for me, one of his hands covering a struggling Snitch, flashed across my mind.

"Regulus," I moaned, trying to sit up and failing. "What happened… to Regulus?"

Lily's brows furrowed in confusion, but she answered my question. "He's right over there." She gestured to a bed near mine. "Like I said, he fell too."

"Is he… okay?" He wasn't moving, but I could see a slight rise and fall in his chest. _Please don't let him be hurt. He was only trying to catch me. Please, Regulus, baby, open your eyes._

Again, she appeared confused. "Um, yes. He's going to be okay."

An intense relief flooded through me and I sank back against the bed. "Thank Merlin."

"Jen…" she said slowly. "Is there… is there something going on between you and Regulus?"

My eyes flew open and widened in shock. _Oh no. She isn't supposed to find out yet! No one is! It's supposed to be a secret! She can't know!_

"It's just…" she continued slowly, "… I don't know, I just… I thought that when you first fell…. I thought that I saw him catch you. And it… it really looked like he was trying to hold onto you. Like he _had_ to hold onto you. And you were holding on to him, too. And when you guys hit the ground… well… his arms were around you and you fell on top of him. And it almost looked like he was reaching for you… but James and Sirius think that he was just trying to hold onto the Snitch…"

Black spots danced before my eyes. My anxiety was going to make me pass out again.

"Jen?" she asked worriedly. "Jen, are you all right?"

I let myself slip back into the darkness.


	63. Chapter 63

~Jen's POV~

It took three days for me to be released from the hospital wing. In that time, James only left my side when he had a class (and he even skipped one class). He insisted that I needed him there and I really did, so I didn't object too strongly. I let him help me sit up and sip water and eat a little bit of food. When Madame Pomfrey wanted me to try walking a bit, he was right at my side, ready to catch me if I stumbled.

While I loved that he was doting on me, I didn't like that it kept me from speaking with Regulus, who was released a day before I was. James kept trying to prod me into telling him what had happened during the match, but I always just told him that I didn't really remember. It was partially true, after all, so I didn't feel so guilty about lying to him.

When I was finally released, _everyone_ doted on me the way that James had. And everyone shared James' and Sirius' opinion that Regulus had caused my fall. The only ones happy about that were the Slytherins, of course, so Regulus was even worse off than before. And I had no idea how to stop it because as many times as I tried to tell people that it wasn't his fault, they would just give me a sympathetic look and say that I wasn't remembering it correctly.

My roommates fussed over me, asking me constantly if I needed their help showering or if I needed them to get me more food. I told them that I was fine, but they still kept at it until I pretended to be asleep. Beth was the only one that I could really stand.

"I'm going to the library," I told them one day as I headed for the door.

"I'll come with you!" Kendra said, trying to screw the cap on the polish without wrecking her fingernails.

"No, it's okay," I said quickly. "I have a lot of work to catch up on and everything. It'll be boring."

"But-"

"Besides," I said. "I wouldn't want to interrupt girl time." I smiled. "Have fun."

"You could let us do _your_ nails," Emma suggested.

I made a face. "You know I don't like polish on my nails. You all have fun, though." And then I left before they could protest further, glad that none of them had noticed that I wasn't carrying my book bag with me.

Questions were the last thing I needed. I was about to lose my mind, cooped up in there with them. Not that I didn't appreciate their concern, but it got old after a while.

By being as quiet as possible and sticking close to the wall, I made it out of the common room without a confrontation. Happy at my good fortune, I smiled as I headed off down the corridor.

It wasn't long before I found him. He'd told me all of his hiding places, just as I'd told him all of mine.

"Hi."

He started and his eyes widened when he saw me.

He was on his feet in an instant. "Jen, I-"

I held up my hand to stop him. "Don't say you're sorry and don't ask me how I'm doing. I've had enough of that these past few days."

"But-"

"You saved me," I told him sternly. "It would have been _so_ much worse if you hadn't tried so hard. You got hurt, too. But we're both okay, and that's all that matters to me."

He stepped closer, sadness in his dark eyes. "I didn't mean to catch the Snitch, Jen. It was an accident. It ended up in my hand when I put my arms around you…"

"It's okay." I stepped closer and pressed into him, snuggling into his scent and his warmth. "It's okay." It was so good to finally be back where I belonged – safe in his arms.

"I was scared when I was falling," he murmured into my hair before he kissed the top of my head. "But not for me. Only for you."

"I love you," I whispered in reply.

He pulled back and smiled at me. "I love you."

And then I pulled him by the collar of his shirt until we were pressed together. "Prove it."

He smiled as his hands rested on my hips, turning me so that I was pressed against the wall. There was an amused twinkle in his eye, but tenderness as well. "Have I not proven it already?"

"By risking your life for me?" I teased. "No, not enough. I need more. Something I can remember."

He pressed closer, pressing me into the wall. His voice was a growl. "I'll give you something to remember." And then his lips were on mine, gentle at first and then more passionate.

I smiled into the kiss and my arms twined around his neck, fingers twisting in his hair.

He kissed my temples, my cheeks, my nose, my jaw, my neck, my collarbone. "I love you so much," he said between kisses. "So much."

"And I love you," I gasped, pulling his lips back to mine.

"Prove it," he teased as he pulled away from me.

With a growl of my own, I pulled him back in.

~James' POV~

"I'm really proud of you, you know," Lily said so that only I could hear. Remus was deeply engrossed in his book and Sirius was trying to get a crick out of his neck.

I turned my head to look at her, smiling slightly. "Proud of me for what?"

She kissed my cheek. "For not bringing up losing the match with Jen."

"She didn't need that," I said honestly. "She would have felt like it was her fault and it wasn't. It was a freak thing."

"You're not disappointed that you lost?"

"I am," I told her, my voice serious. "But winning isn't as important as Jen being okay. If I had to choose between winning every Quidditch Cup and my sister being safe… well… there isn't even a choice. I'm just glad that Jen's okay."

She grinned at me and said, "And that's why I love you. You know what matters."

"Of course I do."

Just then, Peter came rushing down the stairs. "Guys, you have to see this!"

"Not now, Wormtail," Sirius said and twisted his head violently. "You have no idea how badly my neck is hurting right now. Do any of you know how I ended up in such a painful position in the first place?"

"You got into bed the wrong way," Remus said and closed his book with a sigh, perhaps not liking how the ending had turned out.

"I was too tired to tell the difference," he muttered. Something popped. "Bloody hell!"

"This is important!" Peter insisted and threw down some parchment.

The map.

"What is it?" I asked as I pulled it closer to look.

Remus and Sirius moved closer as well.

"Right there," Peter said and pointed.

"If this is about that Hufflepuff girl that you have a crush on," Sirius began, "I already told you that stalking is _not_ the way to get a girl. In fact-"

But he broke off abruptly because he had seen what I had seen.

_Jennifer Potter_, the map read, showing the dot that represented my sister. She was on one of the upper levels, in a corridor that wasn't normally used.

And beside her was another little dot.

_Regulus Black_.

"Bloody hell!" I exclaimed and tossed the map aside, leaping to my feet and drawing my wand. Peter, Remus, Sirius, and Lily were right behind me as I flew through the common room and out the portrait hole. I could hear their footsteps pounding behind me as I ran to save my sister.

_He found her alone and he wants to finish what he wasn't able to during the match. He wants to hurt her. He's going to hurt her if I don't get there in time. I have to save her. Oh, Merlin, please don't let her already be too hurt. Please let us get there in time. I have to stop him. I have to stop him. I have to stop him from hurting my baby sister. Jen, hold on. I'm coming._

I rounded the corner, the others on my heels, ready for anything.

Except for what was awaiting us there.

The map had been correct.

Jen was there.

Regulus was there.

But…

_This can't be happening._

Jen was pressed against the wall, her legs around Regulus' waist. One of her hands was on his shoulder, pushing herself up for leverage. The other one was tangled in his black hair. His left hand was against the wall, steadying them. His right hand was cupping her jaw.

They were kissing fiercely, locked in each other's embrace, oblivious to the world around them.

"Jen," I gasped out.

And they broke apart.


	64. Chapter 64

~Jen's POV~

"Jen."

Regulus and I broke apart in surprise and I turned toward the sound, alarmed to find my brother's hazel eyes looking back at me.

"James…" I whispered in shock.

_This can't be happening. This can't be happening. Why now? This can't be happening._

He was shaking in a very familiar way. The same way that he shook when I broke his favorite broom model. The same way that he shook when I was acting like a brat. The same way that he shook when I had refused to tell him where I'd been the night before the Quidditch Cup match.

He was _very_ angry.

"Somebody," he said slowly, "better tell me what the hell is going on. _Now_."

Behind him, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Lily all seemed shocked beyond all help.

"Jen," Regulus murmured, more a question than anything. _Do you want my help? Do you want to explain this by yourself? Do you want me to get us out of here? What do you need from me?_

I couldn't answer his unasked questions. I was too busy thinking about my own questions. _What do I say? How do I keep him from getting angry? How do I explain this? What is he going to think? Will he be able to accept this? _

"_You_," James said angrily, glaring at Regulus. "_You_ don't get to speak. You tried to _kill_ her and now you're… _snogging_ in corridors?! What the hell is this, Black?!"

"He didn't try to kill me," I said automatically, but my voice sounded small. Weak. Scared.

James' eyes turned to me, still icy. "No?! He knocked you off your broom, Jen!"

"No, he didn't!" I defended. "That Beater knocked me off my broom. He tried to catch me, James! He ignored the _Snitch_ to try and catch me."

"No, he didn't," James said angrily. "He _caught_ the Snitch. They _won_."

"That was an accident," Regulus said evenly, one hand at my lower back, steadying me. "I was just trying to catch Jen and the Snitch was there. I didn't mean to grab it. All I was thinking about was breaking her fall."

"How convenient," James sneered. "The Snitch just _happened_ to fly right into _your_ hand."

"I tried to let it go!" Regulus said. "When I was reaching for Jen after we'd fallen, I was trying to let it go, but I couldn't move my hand very well and it was trapped-"

"You don't _get_ to call her Jen!" James thundered. "And take your hands off of her!"

"_You_ don't get to decide _what_ he calls me, James!" I said, getting angry. "And you can't control who I let touch me."

Regulus, thankfully, hadn't removed his hand. I needed his support. Otherwise, I feared, I would fall.

His voice was deceptively quiet, reminding me of a cobra right before it strikes. "Just how long, exactly, has all of this been going on?"

I decided that keeping anymore secrets was a very bad idea. "I was going to tell you, James, I swear-"

"But you _didn't_, Jen!" he roared. "You didn't tell me a damn thing! I have to find out by walking in on Regulus Black with his hands all over you and his tongue shoved halfway down your throat!"

"I-" Regulus began.

"How long?" James demanded.

"We… we started talking a little bit before Christmas break," I said, feeling the words rushing out of my mouth before I could stop them. "Just talking, James, I swear. I hated him on principle at first, but as we continued to talk and run into each other… it changed. He was different than I had him figured for. Nicer, kinder, smarter… _better_. When I found out that he… you know… _liked _me, I was really confused. I didn't know what to do. So we continued to meet in secret sometimes and then I just…" my eyes teared up. "I fell in love with him, James. I broke up with Hale. And we've been meeting in secret ever since. We just didn't want to tell anybody because of the Slytherin Gryffindor rivalry. We didn't want people to be too angry and come after either one of us. We were just trying to keep each other safe."

James had stayed silent throughout my story. When I had finished, though, he took one step closer and jabbed his finger in Regulus' direction. "_You_." He said it as you would say any dirty word. "You bastard. You made her think that she was in love with you so that you could take advantage of her!"

"James!" I said angrily, but Regulus' sharp voice caused me to fall silent.

He had stepped away from me and he stood squarely, facing James, fire in his eyes. "I would _never_ take advantage of Jen. Despite what you might think of me, I _am_ a human being, capable of every single emotion that you are. Everything that she just told you is true. We fell in love. _I_ fell in love. Don't you _dare_ presume to know my intentions. _You_," he said very deliberately, "don't even _know_ me."

"Exactly," James growled. "All I know is what I've heard. How you've tagged along and helped other Slytherins hurt innocent people for your own amusement. That you're in a league with Voldemort, just like those same Slytherins. You think _that's_ the kind of guy I want my sister shacking up with?!"

Regulus froze and I understood why. That had been one of his biggest qualms about dating me. That he wasn't good enough.

It was my turn to face off with my brother. "Whatever Regulus did in the past is just that – _in the past_. It doesn't matter. I've already forgiven him for all of it. He's changed."

Sirius finally got over his shock and joined the conversation, stepping up to his best friend's side as he shot a death glare at his own brother. "No, Jen, he hasn't. He's playing an angle. It's something he's always been good at."

Regulus, understandably, looked a little hurt by his brother's words, though he masked it pretty well. "You don't know me, either, brother," he replied softly. "You've been gone. You haven't been at home."

"Don't call me your brother," Sirius said angrily. "And you're wrong. I _have _been at home. The Potters' is my home now."

"You don't understand," Regulus said softly, and it hurt me so much to hear the pleading in his voice. He wanted – _needed_ – his brother to understand. "You haven't been there, so you haven't seen how bad everything has become. I couldn't take it anymore. I-"

"Save it," Sirius growled. "You think I'd really believe that Mummy's little favorite would turn on her?!"

"I did!" he said.

"Yeah, right," Sirius said. "Why would you do that? Why would you give up the supposed _power_ that you could have? Why would you give up the glory and the thrill and the blessedness of it all?!"

"I _fell in love_," Regulus said.

I realized then how similar in looks the two boys were. I'd known it before, of course, and you had to expect that brothers would look alike, but I'd never noticed just _how much_. Their hair was the same shade and texture. Their eyes were exactly the same color and shape. Their build was similar. Their noses were identical. Their foreheads were wide, cheekbones high, and they both carried themselves as Purebloods tended to without even realizing that they were doing it.

But they were different, too. Regulus' face was a bit fuller, giving him a boyish kind of charm. He had a small scar near his temple that Sirius' flawless face didn't. And while Sirius tended to not shave until his whiskers were _really_ noticeable, Regulus was always clean shaven. And Regulus' jaw was a little squarer.

"Don't expect me to believe that," Sirius said with a roll of his eyes.

Regulus staggered back, almost as through his brother had punched him. I knew that's what it felt like. There were two people that he had wanted to prove himself to. Me. And his brother. And his brother wasn't having any of it. He wasn't even _trying_.

"Come on, Jen," James said. "We're leaving."

"What?" I said, genuinely surprised.

"We're leaving," he said impatiently, waving his arm in a signal for me to come to him. "Come on, I mean now."

I took a step towards Regulus. "Forget it."

James' eyes widened in both anger and surprise. "_Jennifer_. Now."

"_James_," I mocked and took another step to Regulus. "_No_."

He grit his teeth. "I will _not_ have my sister dating some Voldemort-worshipping Slytherin that I know for a fact only wants to take advantage of her. Do you hear me?! I'm _not _having it!"

"I don't care!" I shot back. "I'm not a little girl, James. I'll do as I please."

"Jen!" he roared. "Come here, NOW!"

Lily grabbed his arm to calm him down and I slipped my hand into Regulus' before leading us both away.


	65. Chapter 65

~James' POV~

"James, please listen to reason," Lily begged.

"I'm not the one being unreasonable, Lily," I growled, the quill flying across my paper at top speed. The ink was going all over the place, spotting and smearing across my paper, making my carefully constructed words illegible, but I didn't care. I didn't care about some stupid Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. I couldn't make myself care about it. I was too… angry, frustrated, upset, disappointed, and confused.

"James," Lily said gently, hesitantly reaching out to me. "Stop. You're ruining your essay."

"I don't care," I growled and continued my reckless writing.

"James…"

"She didn't tell me, Lily! She didn't tell me a damn thing! And, worse, she _lied_ to me! I'm her _brother_, and she _lied_ to me!"

"Mr. Potter!" Madame Prince said as she swept around a row of bookshelves and looked at the table where Lily and I were sitting. "Please keep your voice _down_."

I froze, the quill in my hand dripping ink steadily. I was breathing heavily. "Sorry," I said finally. "I'm sorry, Madame Prince. It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't," she said and went off to organize books or dust the shelves or whatever it was she did in her free time.

"James," Lily said softly when Madame Prince was out of sight. "Maybe if you just give Jen a chance to _explain_-"

"She _already_ explained!" I said and went back to writing on my essay. I didn't know if I was even writing about the subject matter anymore or simply scribbling. I didn't care one way or another. "When we caught her in the corridor, she gave all of her pathetic excuses."

"Were they really that pathetic?" Lily asked me and then sighed. "When I was with Jen in the hospital wing and she first woke up, I told her what had happened. When she heard that Regulus had fallen too, she was panicked. She wanted to know where he was, if he was okay. James… I saw the look in her eyes. She loves him."

"She's naïve," I said, dismissive.

"He loves her, too," she said softly. "I know you don't believe it, but I know now what I saw. He really _did_ try to catch her, James. He didn't care about the Snitch. He blew right past it to get to Jen. He fought the wind and risked his own life to catch _Jen_. Wouldn't you do the same for me?"

"Yes," I said immediately. "Of course I would. But I would never lie to my sister about dating you."

"What was she supposed to say to explain it?" she asked in that teacherish voice of hers, trying to make me think things through. "Would you have accepted it?"

"No!" I said, not believing that she was still trying to argue with me about it. "Of course not! Lily, this is _Regulus Black_ we're talking about. Her dating Hale was hard for me, because I was always worried about them… you know." I shook my head in exasperation and sighed. "But her dating Regulus is dangerous in a completely different way. You can't even measure them on the same scale. Regulus is a follower of Voldemort-"

"You don't know that," she interrupted in a matter-of-fact voice that was usually endearing but drove me crazy then.

"Everyone in the crowd that he runs around with is!" I exclaimed. "Is it really so far-fetched that he would be, too?"

"But you don't know for sure," she gently chided.

"Why are you taking her side?!"

Her eyes widened slightly and she appeared affronted. "I'm not taking anyone's _side_, James. I'm trying to get you to see beyond yourself and your prejudices."

"I _do_ see beyond myself," I said slowly and felt myself begin to shake with anger. "I see Jen. I see her with a guy that is going to do nothing but hurt her. I do _not_ want that to happen. I will _not_ let that happen to her."

"I understand that you want to protect her," Lily said softly. "James, I really do understand that. I admire that. But is this really you trying to protect her, or is this you trying to _control_ her?"

"You don't understand," I told her and stood up, stuffing my book and my essay into my bag. "I can't believe that you would even suggest that! Of course I'm trying to protect her, Lily. I only want what's best for her."

"Best by whose standards?" she whispered.

"I'll see you later," I said curtly and left the library.

~Jen's POV~

"Congratulations," I said, smiling at the trophy in the trophy case.

He sighed and pulled me close. "I didn't want to catch it."

"I know. But you did. And Slytherin won." I looked up at him and grinned teasingly. "But don't expect to win with the same ease next year."

"Of course not," he said and slipped his hand into mine, guiding us down the corridor. It was officially out there that we were dating, and while the reception to the news wasn't warm by any means, I was glad that it wasn't a secret anymore. I was glad that I could hold his hand when I wanted and be close to him in places that didn't have to be a secret.

"Where are we headed?" I asked him, ignoring the whispers of a couple of third year Ravenclaws.

"The library," he said. "I thought there was a book that you wanted to check out?"

"There is," I agreed.

"You okay?" His voice was soft, gentle. Ever since that night that we'd been caught by my brother, he'd been asking me that periodically. Maybe he'd quit asking if I told him the truth, but I never did.

"I'm fine."

He saw right through it. He always did. "No, you're not. And it's okay, Jen; I'm not expecting you to be."

I sighed. "It's not like it matters."

He stopped in the middle of the corridor and pulled me to him, oblivious to the students that stared at us and whispered as they passed by. "It matters to _me,_ Jen."

"What if I said that I don't want to talk about it?" I asked him, searching his dark eyes, finding only concern there.

"I'd say too bad," he responded, his hands squeezing mine tighter. "We're talking about it."

"I don't _want_ to talk about it, Regulus."

He frowned. "Why not?"

"I just don't."

"Jen," he sighed, exasperation coloring his voice. "Don't do this, okay? Don't go back to being the Jen that solves her own problems and never accepts help from anyone."

"There's nothing you can do," I told him honestly. I knew that stung. "You know there isn't. James didn't listen to me, so he isn't going to listen to you. The only thing we can do is wait for this all to blow over."

He knew I was right, but he didn't like it. "Do you think that-"

"I have to go," I said and slipped my hands out of his, straightening my book bag on my shoulder. "I need to run by the library and you'll be late to Herbology if you come with me."

"Jen." He grabbed my arm and pulled me back, worry and concern in his expression.

I managed a smile for him. "We're okay, Regulus. I just want to be alone right now."

Reluctantly, he let go of me and nodded. "I'll see you later, then."

"Later," I agreed and blended with the crowd of students.

In the library, Madame Prince helped me track down the book that I needed. She talked to me like she normally did, but I noticed her curious gaze on me when she thought I wasn't looking. Even _she_ couldn't fathom Regulus and me together.

Walking out of the library, I was stopped by a soft, feminine voice. "Jen."

"Lily," I said as I stopped, fidgeting slightly. "Hi."

She smiled. "Hi. Do you have a second?"

"Yeah," I said slowly. "My class is just down the hall, so…"

"I'll walk with you."

"Okay."

We began walking and I glanced over at her, questioning.

She sighed. "It's about James. Well, actually, it's about both of you. I've tried talking to him, Jen, and he won't listen to me."

"Well, he won't listen to me, either," I said bitterly. "So I guess it doesn't matter."

Her expression was sad. "You two have always been so close. I don't want to see you ripped apart by something like this."

I stopped walking outside of my classroom door and turned to look at her. "If you're here to ask me to break up with Regulus to repair mine and James' relationship, don't bother. It isn't going to happen, no matter what you say."

She looked surprised. "That's not what I was going to say."

"Then I don't know what else you could say," I told her honestly. "Because you and I both know that James is beyond seeing reason."

"And you?" she asked.

I shrugged as I disappeared into the classroom. "We Potters are stubborn people."


	66. Chapter 66

~James' POV~

"What are you doing?" Remus asked me softly as he shut the door of our room behind him.

"Nothing," I answered just as softly.

"You weren't at dinner," he said. "Lily asked me where you were. I told her you were probably just tired."

"I am," I replied. _Tired of everything_.

"Is that the map?"

"Yeah."

He came and sat down on the edge of my bed, looking at it. He nodded in understanding when he saw what I was looking at.

In the library.

Corner table.

_Jennifer Potter._

_Regulus Black_.

"So you haven't become more accepting of their relationship since the last time we talked?"

"I think it's a testament to my character that I haven't stormed down there and hexed him into next month," I defended.

A small smile turned up the corners of Remus' mouth. "That's very true, James. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you. I can rest in peace now." I grabbed the map and tossed it aside with a small sound of disgust. "How can she be with _him_?"

"Do we really have a choice of who we fall in love with?" he asked me. "I'm sure she didn't want to develop feelings for him at first. But she seems happy enough with him."

"Yeah," I said bitterly. "Happy enough to shun her own brother. Some relationship she has."

"Is it so bad when that brother is being just a little unreasonable?"

I shot up, glaring at him. "You sound like Lily."

"Great minds think alike."

"Remus, she _lied_ to me."

"I know. She lied to all of us. But come on, James, she's a Marauder. When you think about it, her telling the truth would have been _more_ shocking. You can't teach her to lie and sneak around and then get mad when she puts that training to use."

"Stop making so much sense," I grumbled and pulled a pillow over my head. "I don't want to hear it."

"Then can't you understand why that might make you unreasonable?"

"Yes," I admitted slowly and tossed the pillow off. "But she is, too."

"Okay," he agreed reluctantly. "I'll buy that. You're both being unreasonable. So one of you needs to be the bigger person and try to fix this." He stood up and smiled down at me. "I have a strong feeling that it'll be Jen."

I glared at him.

His smile turned sad. "You two are way too close to let this pry you apart. You need to fix this."

"I will when she does," I said and pulled the pillow back over my face.

I heard him sigh. "Whatever you say, James." And I heard the door shut behind him.

~Jen's POV~

"Going to see Regulus?"

I looked to the doorway and saw Beth there, leaning against the doorframe.

"Yeah," I said and turned back to the mirror, putting the finishing touches on my makeup.

"Jen?"

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" She didn't sound mad, only hurt.

I put my blush away and turned to her. "Beth, I'm sorry. We didn't tell anyone. We were too scared of what would happen if we did."

"I wouldn't have told anyone."

"I know," I said honestly. "It was just… really hard to explain, even to myself. I didn't even know how to explain it to anyone else."

"Were you _going_ to tell me?"

"I'm not sure," I said honestly. "I was kind of just taking it one day at a time. We definitely wanted to keep it a secret until after the Quidditch Cup, because we didn't want to cause an uproar like that. After that… well, we didn't have a plan."

She nodded slowly and then looked at me very seriously. "Does he make you happy?"

"He does," I affirmed. "I love him, Beth. So much. When we first started talking more and more and I realized that he wasn't as horrible as I'd always thought he was… it freaked me out. I didn't _want_ to be involved with him. But I just… I realized that I couldn't fight it anymore."

She smiled. "Then I approve. And I'm happy that you're happy. When can we three sit down for dinner?"

I laughed and moved to hug her. "Whenever you want."

She hugged me back and then pulled away. "Here. I'll braid your bangs back for you."

"Thanks."

We fell into easy conversation as she helped me with my hair and it was so good to have my friend back. After we were done getting me ready, she hugged me again and told me to have a good time. Then, I left and headed for the Room of Requirement to meet Regulus.

The room was small and cozy, with a fire blazing in a small fireplace and cheery paint on the walls. Candles were set up and there was a table laden with delicious food. Regulus was standing by the fireplace and smiled when I came in. "You look happy."

"I _am_ happy," I told him. "I'm _very_ happy." And then I relayed my conversation with Beth.

"That's great," he said when I'd finished.

"Yeah," I agreed and let him help me into my chair. "At least _someone's_ on our side."

He gestured to the food as he sat down. "Help yourself."

I did. "Did you get this from the house elves?"

"I did," he said and smiled. "Ever since you've shown me the entrance to the kitchens, I've been down there more and more getting food. They seem to really like me."

I laughed. "They like everyone that gives them a purpose."

He feigned offense. "Way to make me feel good."

"No problem."

We talked of classes for a while, and then he told me about his fellow Slytherins, who were convinced that Regulus was only dating me for my body. It made him so angry that he was spending as little time with them as possible. We also talked about our plans for Quidditch next year and for the summer.

"Speaking of plans," he said and cleared his throat. "I, uh, have something that I need to… ask you."

"I'm not telling you my Quidditch strategies for next year, Regulus," I said with a teasing grin. "I don't even know what they'll be. I lose two Chasers – really _good_ Chasers – so my game is probably going to be centered around a good Keeper and me catching the Snitch as fast as possible." I pointed at him. "So _don't_ screw that up for me."

He grinned at me. "Don't count on it."

I snapped my fingers three times and a house elf appeared.

"Whoa!" Regulus said in surprise, jumping up.

I laughed. "You can take this away, please."

The house elf swept me a bow and then the food was gone, the table replaced with a large bed.

Regulus looked at it and then sent me a sly smile. "Something you're trying to hint at?"

I blushed. "I, um… I didn't know that I was thinking of… _that_."

"_That_?" he questioned with a laugh.

"Shut up," I grumbled.

He chuckled and moved closer, pulling me into his arms. "Okay."

He kissed me, his mouth caressing mine slowly, sensually. I fell into it at once, leaning into him and letting our bodies twist together. He backed me up until I hit the bed and then he fell on top of me, careful to keep his full weight on his arms so that he wouldn't crush me. We continued to kiss, wrapped around each other, and everything else in my world fell away. There was only Regulus and the strong love between us.

He pulled away when my hand slipped under his shirt. "Wait. Before this goes any farther, there's something I need to ask you."

Pouting, I sat up. "Okay, then ask me."

"If only it were that simple," he said and sighed in frustration as he ran his hands roughly through his hair.

"What's not simple about it?" I asked, confused. "There shouldn't be anything complicated between us. Just ask me."

He looked at me and smiled. "You don't understand."

"Not yet," I agreed and waited.

That's when he pulled out the ring.

I gasped. "Regulus."

"I know we're young," he said, his voice and expression utterly serious. "We're very young. But I know with absolute certainty that you are the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. So I see no point in waiting to let you know that I will love you forever. I'm promising myself to you and asking that you do the same to me."

"Regulus…" My mind was spinning.

"You don't have to answer now," he said softly as he grabbed my hand and put the ring into my palm, his fingers closing my fingers over it. "Think about it as long as you want."

I smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you."

"I love you," he told me and kissed my forehead tenderly. "You are my whole world."

"And you're mine," I whispered and pulled his lips to mine.


	67. Chapter 67

~Jen's POV~

"So, what are you going to do?" Beth asked me as she handed the ring back to me.

It was so nice to be able to talk to my best friend about these things again. I had missed her so much. "I don't know," I sighed and turned the ring over in my hand. "I love Regulus more than anything. I just… I don't know if marriage would be… good for us."

"You mean, your commitment issues are a problem," Beth translated with a smile.

I rolled my eyes, but smiled back at her. "Shut up."

She laughed. "You know it's true. You're independent, and that makes it hard for you to be in a serious relationship."

"It's not such a big deal with Regulus," I told her and examined the solitary diamond, loving the way it sparkled when it caught the light at the right angle. "We're equals, more than anything. We both have our strengths and our weaknesses and we complement each other."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I don't know," I sighed. "Marriage just… scares me."

"It's not like you have to decide right now," she said. She shrugged. "Take your time. That's what he told you to do, right? He seems to understand that it's a big deal and you're going to need to think about it."

I smiled. "Of course he understands. He always does." I continued to examine the ring. "I love him, Beth."

"I know you do."

I looked up at her and smiled. "I'm going to marry him, Beth."

She grinned. "I knew you would."

"Shut up," I grumbled and slipped the ring onto my left hand. It was a perfect fit, as I had known it would be.

"Better go find him before classes start," she said with a knowing smile as she stood and grabbed her bag. "Otherwise you'll be close to bursting all day."

I laughed and grabbed my own bag, flying out the door. "Thanks, Beth!"

Regulus was heading to Potions when I caught him. "Regulus!"

It seemed as though everyone in the corridor stopped when I called his name, but there was only one person that I cared about.

The tall man with the dark hair and dark, caring eyes. The man that cared about me, cherished me, protected me, and loved me just as much as I loved him. Really, when I thought about it, there was no choice. Not really.

"Jen," he said with a smile and reached for me.

I gave him my left hand, making sure that he could see the ring. "Yes, Regulus."

His eyes were wide, a large smile spreading over his face.

"Yes, I'll marry you," I said and laughed in my joy.

He laughed, too, and swung me up in his arms, pressing his mouth to mine.

And I didn't care that everyone was staring at us.

As far as I was concerned, they could stare at my joy and love as long as they wanted to.

~James' POV~

"I shouldn't have snapped at you," I murmured into her hair.

"No, you shouldn't have." But her arms wrapped around me just the same. Love was many things. Forgiveness was one of them.

"I'm sorry."

"I know." She pulled back and smiled at me. "And I accept your apology."

"Good." I kissed her lightly and then said, "So, why don't we go ahead and go to lunch?"

"We don't have a class after lunch," she said, confused. "I thought we usually went to lunch later?"

"We do," I said with a shrug. "But I'm hungry."

"Fair enough," she smiled. "Who am I to keep James Potter's appetite away from food?"

We left Gryffindor Tower and headed down towards the Great Hall, with me talking about all of the great food that I was going to have. It didn't take long for me to realize that there was something big going on, though. Excited whispers buzzed all around us and some people looked excited while others appeared scandalized.

"Something's going on," I said to Lily.

"Something _big_," she agreed.

The students all around us seemed to know what was going on.

"Should we ask one of them?" I wondered.

But we didn't have to.

Sirius came running up to me, pushing through the crowd carelessly, shoving people aside. His facial expression was a mixture of shock and anger, his eyes darker than ever. "James."

"What's going on?" I asked him.

He looked nervously between Lily and me and then took a deep breath. "James, it's Jen."

No matter how upset and angry I was at her, I was instantly on high alert, ready to do whatever I needed to do for my sister. "What is it? What happened?"

Once again, he appeared nervous. "She… well… she's engaged."

Time itself was holding its breath. Maybe that's why _I_ couldn't breathe. My heart and my head were pounding and it was like I couldn't move, as if the news had paralyzed me. _She's engaged_. Engaged. Engaged. Engaged.

"What?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

"Regulus proposed to her," Sirius said slowly, his mouth set in a line. "And she said yes. They're engaged."

"When?" I asked, nearly a gasp. "When did this happen?"

"She accepted this morning. I caught a glimpse of the ring when she was walking past me in the corridor… James…" He seemed at a loss for words, for once. "James, I'm so sorry."

"She… no!" I said, finally coming to my senses. My hand jerked out of Lily's and balled into a fist. "She can't marry him!"

"James," Lily said from behind me.

I wheeled on her. "No, Lily! This is the last straw. She can _not_ marry him. I will not let her."

She grabbed my arm before I could turn away. "James, _no_." Her eyes were sad, her voice soft. "This is her decision, James."

"Not anymore," I growled and ripped my arm out of Lily's grasp before taking off to go and find the map.

~Jen's POV~

"Well, I better be in it," Kendra told me as she finally put my hand down. She'd been gazing at the ring for at least ten minutes.

"I don't know if we're even having a wedding," I laughed. "We'll probably just do something quiet."

"You can't!" Emma said with a gasp. "You'd be the most beautiful bride, Jen!"

I made a face. "Weddings aren't my thing."

"We'll plan the whole thing!" Kendra said and looked at Beth. "Right, Beth?"

Beth was obviously torn between advocating for what I wanted and agreeing with our other roommates like she wanted to.

"We'll think about it," I finally told them.

"Do that," Cassie said and showed me a picture. "This should be your dress."

"Ugh," I groaned, but smiled. My roommates' enthusiasm made me very happy. It was great that my closest friends had accepted Regulus. Even though my brother still hadn't…

And then, there he was, storming down the hall. James' fists were clenched as tight as his jaw and he was subtly shaking with his anger. "Jen," he said when he was close enough. "We have to talk." And then he grabbed my arm, pulling me away from my roommates, who stood there uncertainly, not knowing what to do.

"James, let go!"

He did when we were around the corner. "You are _not_ marrying him."

"I see that you've heard the news," I said sardonically as I fixed my robes where he'd bunched them up. "I think this is the part where you offer me your congratulations and wish me happiness."

"No," he said evenly. "This is the part where I stop you from making the worst mistake of your life."

I reeled back as if he'd slapped me. It certainly felt like he had. "Regulus is the _best_ thing that's ever happened to me, James."

"Why can't you see what he's doing to you?!" James thundered.

"I can!" I thundered back. "He's making me _happy_, James!"

He gripped at his hair. "You're so naïve, Jen!"

"No, I'm not," I stated evenly.

He stepped closer to me and used his strict big brother voice, one he rarely ever used. "You will _not_ marry him."

I straightened up and looked him right in the eye, feeling a pang as I realized just how much I missed him. He was the brother that I'd pulled countless pranks with. The brother that had taught me how to get away with sneaking a cookie before dinner. The brother that would risk his life for me, as I would risk mine for him.

_What's happening to us?_

"It's _my_ decision, James," I said, suddenly very tired. "_My_ life. _I'll_ decide what I'm going to do with it. Not Remus. Not Sirius. Not Lily. Not _you_."

He grabbed my arms and squeezed them almost to the point of pain, his eyes pleading. "Jen, _please_. Don't do this."

As much as it hurt me, I took his hands off of me, turned, and walked away from him.


	68. Chapter 68

~James' POV~

"James, come on. Get out of bed."

I just stared up at the ceiling, feeling immobile.

"James." Sirius sat down on the bed. "Come on, mate. We have to go to class."

"No," I said softly. "No class for me today."

"You can't blame yourself forever, James," Remus said as he joined Sirius. "Jen made her decisions. Maybe you don't agree with them, but you have to accept them."

"I don't want to." I wanted to throw a fit like when I'd been a toddler.

"Believe me, mate, I don't want to, either," Sirius said. "But there isn't anything we can do about it."

"She's my sister," I said softly. "I'm supposed to protect her. Seventeen years ago today, I made a promise to her to always be there for her and always protect her. And I've failed. I've failed her."

"You haven't failed her, James," Remus said. "You've been an amazing brother. I'm sure even Jen would agree."

"I had plans," I said softly. "For today. For her seventeenth birthday. I planned on sneaking her into Hogsmeade later and buying her all of the candy that she wanted. I have her presents in my trunk. Everything is ruined."

"Just because you two are having a spat right now, doesn't mean that you can't send her the presents you got her," Sirius said. "I'm not too happy with her right now, either, and I've already sent her my present. It's her birthday, James. She'll want to hear from you."

"You know what this means?" I asked him. "Her turning seventeen?"

"She can take her Apparation test?" Sirius guessed.

"She can sign her own permission forms?" Peter guessed from across the room.

Remus just watched me.

I sat up slowly and looked at each of them in turn. "She's an adult now, in the wizarding world. And adults can get married."

Sirius stood up and walked away, reaching for the things he would need for school.

Remus sighed. "James, you can't let this ruin you. You need to figure out some way to accept this."

"Like you have?"

"I have," Remus said, not backing down. "I've talked to Jen. I've let her explain to me how all of this happened. I understand. I've forgiven her." He stood up and gave me a sage look. "You should do the same."

I watched him walk away and gather his books.

Sirius and Peter left together.

When Remus was at the door, I called to him.

He turned, waiting.

"You talked to Jen?"

He nodded. "A couple of days ago. In the library."

"Is she okay?"

"As okay as can be, under the circumstances. I really think that Regulus makes her happy, James. She really does love him. And he really loves her."

"I just can't make myself believe it," I said.

"You're not trying," he responded and turned and left.

~Jen's POV~

"Happy birthday, love," Regulus said as he pulled me into a kiss.

I smiled when he pulled away. "Thank you. Now we're both adults."

"Yes, we are," he agreed and began walking with me to Defense Against the Dark Arts. "Big accomplishment."

"Do you have any plans for today?" I asked him.

He winked at me. "Secret ones."

"Which are?"

"Secret."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, come on."

He grinned. "You're so used to _keeping_ the secrets, Jen. It's about time you learned how to be on the outside of one."

I pouted. "No fair."

"Oh, yes," he said. "_Very_ fair."

"But you _do _have plans, right?"

"Well…" he said slowly, shrugging. "It was kind of a see how it goes kind of thing. Nothing concrete."

I hit his arm. "Regulus!"

He laughed and wrested my arm away before I could hit him again. "I'm jesting, I'm jesting. Of course I have plans. As soon as classes are over, you're mine."

I shivered in delight. "Awesome."

He laughed. "Awesome, indeed."

We walked into the classroom and took our respective seats, ready for the lesson.

~James' POV~

My sister came out of her last class of the day, walking with Beth, her best friend. They were laughing about something that one of them had said, and I felt a pang as I realized how much I had missed her laugh. How much I had missed _her_ in general. We'd always been close, and it was hard not talking to her every day. I missed everything about my sister.

I walked towards them until I was right in front of her and she stopped in surprise, her mouth falling open slightly. "James."

"Jen," I said softly.

Beth looked between us and then took a step away. "I, uh, I think I'm going to go change before dinner. I'll see you later, Jen."

"See you," Jen replied and Beth disappeared.

It was silent for a few moments until I said, "Happy birthday."

"Thank you," she replied.

Our conversation was all wrong, stiff and polite instead of loose and easy.

"I, uh, had your presents sent up to your room."

"Thank you."

There were so many things that I wanted to say – things about Regulus and how being with him was a horrible idea. But it was her birthday, and I figured that she deserved a break. "Do you have plans for dinner?"

"Regulus does," she said slowly, looking like she didn't want to say it. She didn't want it to turn into a fight.

So I didn't let it. "Oh."

She glanced behind me and took a breath.

I turned to see Regulus at the end of the corridor, watching us with interest and concern.

_Concern…_

I stepped back and gestured down to him. "Go ahead. And have a nice birthday."

She looked at me as if she wasn't totally sure if I was serious. After a few seconds, though, she gave me a small smile and passed me, heading for Regulus.

Once she reached him, she slid her hand into his and the smile that he gave her was dazzling.

They took off together and I was left staring after them, confused.

~Jen's POV~

"James seemed… okay," Regulus said as he led me into the Room of Requirement.

"He was," I said slowly, still a little baffled. "He wished me a happy birthday."

He looked at me. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

He gestured to the table. "Dinner?"

I smiled at him. "Last time we had dinner, you proposed to me. Are you planning to outdo that tonight?"

"I'm not sure what could outdo that," he laughed as he pulled my chair out for me. "But who knows?"

I sat down and began to fill my plate. "So…"

We fell into easy conversation about anything and everything and we laughed as we ate the delicious food that the house elves had prepared.

After dinner, I summoned a house elf and they took the table and the food away.

Once again, a bed appeared.

Once again, I blushed. "I've gotta stop doing that."

He smiled and pulled me close, running his hands slowly through my hair. "I like it." And then he tipped my chin up and kissed me.

When he pulled away, I was shocked. "What are you doing?"

He raised an eyebrow, smiling. "Don't you want your presents?"

"Later," I whined and pulled him back in.

He kissed me once, but then pulled back again.

"Regulus," I complained.

He laughed and plopped onto the bed, holding out his arms for me. "Come here."

I smiled and crawled into the bed, right into his arms. My head rested on his chest and his arms tightened around me, a warm and comforting cocoon. He held me for a while, and then I shifted in his arms and tilted my head up to press my lips to his. He responded instantly, rolling so that he could hover over me and hold himself above me.

My hands deftly removed his shirt and I tossed it aside before gliding my fingers lightly along the muscles of his back and stomach. They tightened at my touch and he moaned before moving his lips to my neck, his hands simultaneously undoing the buttons of my blouse.

Our kissing increased in its urgency and I smiled. "Best birthday ever."

"I'm glad you think so," he said against the skin of my stomach.

"No sex," I warned him as he undid the button on my jeans.

"No sex," he agreed as he pulled them off.

He understood. The last thing that we needed was for me to get pregnant. Neither of us was prepared for that. But I made a mental note to look into birth control soon.

When we both grew too tired to continue, he rolled off of me and laid next to me on the bed, panting.

"Best birthday ever," I repeated.

He grinned at me. "I love you, Jennifer Potter. You know that, right?"

"I do," I agreed. "I love you, too."

"Are you ready for your presents now?" he asked me.

I lit up. "As in 'more than one'?"

He laughed. "More than one."


	69. Chapter 69

**Sorry for the ridiculously long period between updates!**

~Jen's POV~

"We can go shopping for your wedding while we're in Hogsmeade!" Cassie said.

I rolled my eyes. "Even if Regulus and I had a wedding, we wouldn't have it until after our last year of Hogwarts."

"Well, you don't want to procrastinate," Emma said. "It won't hurt to start shopping now."

"You guys are unbelievable."

"Just trying to help," Kendra grinned.

I rolled my eyes again and waved at them as I reached the door. "I'll see you later. I'm going to get to Hogsmeade early so all of the good candy won't be taken."

"Bye!"

"See you later!"

"Get me some Ice Mice!"

Most of the crowd hadn't yet begun traveling to Hogsmeade, so I made it there in very good time. I stopped by the candy shop first, of course, and bought all of the candy that I needed. Then, I went in to have myself fitted for a new set of dress robes in a beautiful bronze color that made my eyes pop.

Cassie met me in the shop. "Getting fitted for your wedding?"

"Wedding?" The witch that was fitting me said in surprise. Her gaze flicked to the ring on my hand and she brightened. "Oh, we have lovely dresses that just came in. I could-"

"No," I interrupted and shot Cassie a look. "I don't quite know if there'll actually be a ceremony yet."

"Oh, but you must!" she gasped. "You would be the most beautiful bride anyone has ever seen!"

Cassie grinned triumphantly. "That's what we all told her."

The witch nodded. "You should listen to your friends."

I rolled my eyes. "Now that _that's_ cleared up, can I get these robes?"

"Oh, of course." She waved her wand and they began folding themselves. "Here. You can pay up front."

After I had paid, Cassie and I left the shop and went to The Three Broomsticks for some butterbeer. It was her treat, and I thanked her when our drinks were set in front of us.

"Don't thank me," she grinned. "I did it so you'd feel like you had to answer my questions."

I raised an eyebrow as I spoke carefully. "What questions?"

"Oh, come on," she said. "You know I've never had a boyfriend. I don't get to experience the fun things."

It was true; she'd never had a boyfriend. But that was her fault. "You've been asked out, Cassie. You've just never agreed to go out with anyone."

She shrugged. "Still, the fact remains that I've only been kissed once. And that Hufflepuff used _way_ too much tongue. Is Regulus a good kisser?"

I blushed. "Cassie, I'm not really sure that's what we should be talking about."

She laughed. "He must be, then, because you're blushing. And, well, you decided to marry him." She gestured to my ring. "Why would you decide to marry him if he was a bad kisser? That would be horrible, wouldn't it? Dreading having to kiss your own husband…"

I shook my head slowly. "Yeah, I guess it would."

"So…" Her smile was suggestive. "Have you two done anything other than kissing?"

I groaned. "Let's _not_ talk about that, shall we?"

Her eyes widened and she gasped. "You have?"

"No!" I said and then hesitated. "Well… not really."

"Elaboration?" she requested.

"There's been…" my blush increased, "… some clothing removal. But we haven't… you know."

"That's still impressive for you. You've always been so… conserved with guys."

I smiled. "Waiting for the right one is important."

"If you're lucky enough to find the right one," she grumbled and took a long swig of butterbeer. "I'm thinking that if I'm not married by age twenty-five, I'll accept the proposal of the first guy that asks."

"Cassie!" I said. "You can't do that! You could end up with a total loser! Being married isn't a have to."

"Everyone who says that is either already married, about to be married, or has a prospect for marriage," she sighed.

"Cassie, you're incredible," I told her. "And the guy that gets you is going to be so lucky. And you better make sure that he knows that. _I'll_ make sure that he knows that. Don't settle, okay?"

"How picky can you be when you're a walking energy drink?" she giggled.

"There's a guy out there that's perfect for you," I said. "And he'll find you soon."

"Or he's lost somewhere in Siberia," she muttered.

I threw a wadded napkin at her. "Stop that. No more being negative."

A scream from outside cut off her reply.

She looked at me in alarm, all traces of humor gone. "What was that?"

"I don't know…"

People inside The Three Broomsticks began moving around uneasily, some moving outside to check it out.

More screams.

"Jen…" Cassie said uncertainly.

I stood and grabbed my packages. "We need to get out of here." Something inside of me was screaming to get out. That something had gone horribly wrong. "Come on, we'll go out the back door."

She followed me through the maze of people and helped me push open the back door. She stepped outside first and then I followed. "Come on, we have to move."

Screams.

Everywhere.

"Jen…" There was fear in Cassie's normally cheerful voice.

"It's okay, Cassie, just get back to Hogwarts. Come on, I'm right behind you."

She kept moving and I followed.

But when she rounded a corner, a flash of green light hit her chest and she fell, eyes open, not moving.

I screamed.

Somehow, my wand was in my hand.

And I was facing off with a hooded figure clad in black.

_Death Eaters…_

~James' POV~

We stumbled upon the chaos, unsure at first as to what we were seeing.

People were running around in senseless patterns, screaming and calling out for loved ones.

A couple of buildings were on fire.

There was the sound of spells being cast.

Sounds of horrible agony.

And hooded figures dressed in black in the midst of it all.

Death Eaters.

"James!" Lily called, alerting me just in time for me to avoid a Killing Curse.

And then we were in the fight.

I didn't know how many Death Eaters there were, but there were a lot, and they had certainly done some damage. There were bodies everywhere, though less were falling now that people were aware that there was an attack going on. Witches and wizards were fighting back with everything they had, Hogwarts students among them. Of course, I also knew that there were some Hogwarts students among those black clad figures…

Sirius was suddenly next to me, light flying from his wand.

"Lily?" I shouted.

He shrugged helplessly and stunned his opponent.

"Find her!" I begged. "Find Jen!"

He turned into his Animagi form and disappeared.

I'm still not sure how long the whole thing lasted.

It felt like it lasted for hours.

At one point, though, it began to slow down. Death Eaters were starting to figure out that they'd done as much damage as they could do and were Disapparating. Some were dead. I took this opportunity to go in search of the two women I loved most in the world.

Lily was with Sirius, seemingly unharmed, but it took many reassurances from both him and her until I would believe that she was really okay.

"Jen?" I asked Sirius.

He shook his head. "I couldn't find her. I found Lily first."

"We have to find her."

So the three of us took off through the people that were fighting the remaining Death Eaters.

When I found her, I froze.

She was on the ground, bleeding from a wound on her head. A Death Eater had been closing in on her, but found that he had to face a new opponent to get to her.

Regulus.

He fearlessly shot spells at the Death Eater, his intensity evident even from where I was standing.

"He's fighting a Death Eater," I said dumbly. "He's… he's protecting her."

Sirius, beside me, seemed to be in equal shock.

Lily looked like she hadn't expected anything else.

Regulus eventually dispatched his opponent and then he was instantly kneeling by Jen's side, checking for her pulse.

That's when I moved in.

When I got too close, he snapped his head up, wand pointed at me.

I raised my hands. "Easy."

He relaxed and softened. "She's breathing. She just got knocked out."

I knelt on the other side of her and found that he'd been telling the truth. "We have to get her to the hospital wing."

He nodded. "I know."

Before he could pick her up, though, I put a hand on his arm, staying him.

He looked at me in surprise.

I took a breath. "What you did… defending her like that…." I took another breath. "I was wrong about you. And seeing you protecting her at the cost of your own life proved just how wrong I was. And I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," he said and scooped my sister up into his arms.


	70. Chapter 70

**So... I'm really sorry about the horrible hiatus. Especially since it was unannounced. I will do so much better now. Don't hate me!**

~Jen's POV~

Two Hogwarts students died in the attack.

Many more were injured, including me.

Cassie was one of the ones that died.

I stood in the Room of Requirement, staring at my reflection in the mirror. My black hair was pulled back in a polished updo and the makeup accenting my eyes was light. No mascara. The dress that I wore was black, of course, and plain, falling to just past my knees.

I looked… broken.

Something in my eyes wasn't quite right.

I guess that's what happens when one of your best friends dies right in front of you.

The door opened and Regulus stepped in, dressed in black slacks and a black button up shirt. His hair was tamed instead of messy and he looked too serious. "Jen?"

"I'm here," I said softly.

He stepped further inside and closed the door. "I thought you might be here."

I continued staring at the mirror. "She's dead, Regulus."

He stepped up behind me and put his hands on my shoulder, pressing his face into the crook of my shoulder. "I know, love. I know."

"I would be dead, too, if you hadn't come along."

His grip tightened ever so slightly, but he still held me carefully. "Don't think like that, Jen. You _can't_ think like that."

"It's not fair," I said and tears stung my eyes, though I didn't know how I couldn't have cried myself dry yet. "She didn't deserve to die."

"No one deserved to die, Jen."

"I saw it."

"I know." He pulled me back against him and wrapped his arms around my waist. "I know, love."

He was the only one that I'd told.

"I told her it was going to be okay."

"Shh, love."

I turned in his arms. "I don't think I can do this, Regulus."

"Yes," he said. "You can."

I shook my head slowly and though I was more than willing to let the tears fall, they wouldn't go beyond the brim. "Why?"

He looked hurt and frustrated at his helplessness. "I don't know, Jen. You're right, it isn't fair. But these things… they just happen sometimes. There's no good explanation that I can give you. Nothing that I can say that will magically fix things. But I can promise you that I'll be here to help you get through this. Anything that you need, anytime."

"I love you," I whispered and pressed myself further into his arms, pressing my face against his shirt. "Regulus, I love you."

"I love you, too," he breathed into my hair. "And I was _so_ terrified when I saw what was happening. I didn't know where you were, if you were okay…" He choked up and had to take a few breaths. "And then I saw you on the ground and that Death Eater was moving closer… Jen, I don't think I've ever moved that fast in my life."

"I don't think I ever thanked you for saving my life," I whispered.

He kissed the top of my head. "Well, you're welcome."

"You know you risked your life."

"No, Jen," he murmured. "You _are_ my life."

"I don't want to go."

He squeezed me tighter. "I wish I could tell you that you don't have to. But you would regret it if you didn't."

"I know."

"I'll be there the whole time," he promised me. "I won't let you out of my sight. And afterwards, we can come back here."

I'd been staying in the Room of Requirement, not wanting to face my other roommates. Not wanting them to know that I had failed Cassie. Sweet, gentle, energetic Cassie.

"Classes will start back up Monday," I said slowly. "Students will learn, there will be meals, life will go on. And she's not here."

"I know it's hard," he said softly and stroked my face. "But you'll find a way to be okay again. You'll take it one day at a time."

"One day at a time," I murmured. "That sounds… hard."

He gave me a humorless smile. "No one said it would be easy."

"As long as you're here," I said to him, examining every inch of the face that I loved so dearly, "I think I'll be okay."

"I'll be here," he promised.

"We should go." It took all of my inner strength to step away from him.

He nodded and slipped his hand into mine. "Let's go, then."

We exited the room and then made our way through the empty corridors. Everyone was already at the service.

When we reached the front doors, I squeezed his hand and let him lead me outside.

~James' POV~

Professor Flitwick got up after Professor Dumbledore and announced that Jen was going to sing. I hadn't seen her yet at the service – I had looked for her when I'd come in – but suddenly she was there, coming from the side and onto the stage area.

Regulus had followed her and stood directly off stage, giving her an encouraging nod and a small smile.

Jen slowly walked to the center of the stage and faced all of us. She looked regal in the way that she held herself, and though she was obviously broken on the inside, she held herself together well. She'd always been good at that.

The music started up and Jen took a deep breath.

Then, she began to sing in that beautiful voice of hers.

"If I die young, bury me in satin. Lay me down on a bed of roses. Sink me in the river, at dawn. Send me away with the words of a love song."

She took another deep breath, a little shaky, and continued.

"Lord, make me a rainbow and shine down on my mother. She'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors. Oh, and, life ain't always what you think it ought to be, no. Ain't even gray, but she buries her baby. The sharp knife of a short life. Well, I've had just enough time."

She shifted slightly and glanced over at Regulus, who gave her another encouraging nod, before she continued to sing.

"If I die young, bury me in satin. Lay me down on a bed of roses. Sink me in the river, at dawn. Send me away with the words of a love song."

Another deep breath.

"Come on, Jen," I murmured.

"And I'll be wearing white, when I come into your kingdom. I'm as green as the ring on my little cold finger. I've never known the loving of a man, but it sure felt nice when he was holding my hand. There's a boy here in town that says he'll love me forever. Who would have thought forever would be severed by the sharp knife of a short life? Well, I've had just enough time."

It was a beautiful song, perfect for her voice, but it was also colossally sad. Lily was crying next to me.

"So put on your best boys, and I'll wear my pearls. What I never did is done. A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I'll sell 'em for a dollar. They're worth so much more after I'm a goner and maybe then you'll hear the words I've been singing. Funny when you're dead how people start listening."

I thought it was beyond cruel that they had asked her to sing at the service. I mean, one of the victims was her roommate and one of her best friends. I hadn't known Cassie very well, but she'd always struck me as a fun, lovable girl. But, of course, Jen hadn't complained. She never complained. For once, I wished that she would do something for herself and not care about anyone else.

The music played and Jen had to glance at Regulus once more before she could finish the song.

"If I die young, bury me in satin. Lay me down on a bed of roses. Sink me in the river, at dawn. Send me away with the words of a love song."

A tear had finally fallen, but it didn't affect her singing at all. Her voice was still beautiful. Perfect.

"Oh, oh, the ballad of the dove. Go with peace and love. Gather up your tears; keep 'em in your pocket. Save 'em for a time when you're really gonna need 'em, oh. The sharp knife of a short life. Well, I've had just enough time."

She took another very shaky breath.

"So put on your best boys, and I'll wear my pearls…"

The music ended and Jen stood there for a moment longer before she made her way off of the stage and nearly collapsed into Regulus. His arms wound around her and he pulled her close. Together, they made their way to seats on the front row to stay through the remainder of the service.

A few more words were said by a few different professors and students, and then everyone was dismissed.

I looked for Jen, but she and Regulus were already gone.


	71. Chapter 71

~Jen's POV~

Days passed.

Regulus was right: It was hard. I missed Cassie every single day and cried myself to sleep more than once. I admitted to my roommates that I had seen Cassie die and we all wept together. I went to class, did my homework, and spent countless nights with Regulus in the Room of Requirement, where we talked of sorrow and of our future plans together. Life went on, as I had known it would, and I hated that Cassie wasn't there to see it. Wasn't there to drive me crazy with her energy. I missed her so much.

Regulus was waiting for me after dinner one night, leaning back against the corridor wall, arms crossed over his chest. He smiled when he saw me, a new kind of smile, because he had almost lost me and now he regarded me as even more precious than before. His love, his life. "Hello, love," he said as he pushed off of the wall and walked towards me.

"Hey," I said and managed a smile of my own. It had been two weeks after Cassie's death before I had been able to smile, and it had grown easier each day. I had felt guilty about that, until Regulus told me that he was sure Cassie would have wanted me to smile. He was right, at that.

"Come with me?" he asked and held out his hand.

I took it. "Sure."

He led me out the front doors and into the darkness beyond. "How was your day?"

"Just another day," I sighed.

"Something to celebrate," he said with a smile.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"It's a surprise."

"You know I don't like surprises."

"Unless you're on the inside of them," he grinned. "Don't worry, you'll love it."

"Of course I will."

"It features a new piece of magic that I learned. A _hard_ piece of magic, so you best appreciate it because it took me a long time to get it right."

I smiled at him. "Oh, I'm sure it was nothing. You're such a talented wizard, after all."

"You flatter me."

"It's well deserved."

I had already figured out that we were headed to the Quidditch pitch, but he stopped before we got there and turned to me. "Close your eyes."

"No blindfold?" I teased.

He smiled. "Just close your eyes."

I did as I was told and let him lead me the rest of the way.

"Okay," he said slowly. "You can open your eyes now."

I did and gasped.

The Quidditch pitch was lit up with candles that floated in the air, obviously due to a charm that we had learned in our first year. That wasn't the impressive magic, though. Illusions of Quidditch players, dressed in Slytherin green and Gryffindor scarlet, flew around the pitch as if in a live game. You could tell that they weren't solid, but it was still _very_ impressive.

I turned to him. "What is this?"

"A reenactment of our Quidditch Cup match," he said and shrugged. "I thought we could let the Snitch loose and see who wins in a fair fight."

For the first time, I noticed my broom lying on the ground a few feet away.

"Beth got it for me," he explained.

"No wonder she was telling me how sweet you are this morning," I said and headed for my broom. "Okay, let's do this."

When we were both in the air, he flicked his wand at a small case on the ground and the Snitch came flying out.

"On the count of ten," he said and began to count down.

Once he'd said 'one', we both took off.

We weaved around the ghost-like players and avoided the fake Bludgers. It was a lot of fun, and I found myself laughing, actually laughing, for the first time since Cassie had died. Regulus laughed, too, especially when I came up from underneath him and snatched the Snitch right before he would have grabbed it.

"Gryffindor wins!" I cheered as I lifted my hand in triumph, the Snitch struggling against my fingers.

He clapped when he landed. "Jennifer Potter catches the Snitch and Gryffindor has won the match!"

"Thank you, thank you!" I said and swept a bow to the invisible crowd.

"Don't go getting a big head," he told me.

"Too late!" I said and put the Snitch back in the case.

He laughed and put our brooms down before laying down himself on the grass. "Come here."

I slipped easily into his arms and buried my head in his neck. "Thanks for this. I needed it."

"I thought you might."

I pulled away from him and grinned. "You really are the best, you know that?"

"I do," he affirmed.

I rolled my eyes and leaned down to kiss him. "I love you."

He reached up and took my face oh so gently in his hands. "I love you too, Jen." And he pulled me down for another sweet kiss.

~James' POV~

"I think I might die," I said softly.

"I'll die with you, mate. They can bury us next to each other."

"Remus," I said, looking over at him. "Will you make sure that our headstones are awesome?"

"And that no one says anything dumb at our service," Sirius added.

"And that everyone gets _drunk_ at our service," I added.

Remus rolled his eyes. "You're both going to be just fine."

"You're going to feel really bad when James and I drop dead from exhaustion," Sirius said to him.

"If you die, can I have your Invisibility Cloak?" Remus asked.

I punched him in the arm. "Some friend you are!"

Lily joined our group and linked her arm through mine. "How do you all think you did?"

"Good," Remus said immediately.

"James and I were just planning our funeral," Sirius informed her. "We're going to die from exhaustion. But Remus is going to make sure that our headstones don't actually say that. They're going to say something awesome."

Lily rolled her eyes and looked at me. "And you?"

I shrugged. "I guess I did okay. Transfiguration is one of my best subjects, after all. You?"

"Pretty good," she said humbly, though I was sure she had aced it. "I wish I was an Animagi. I could have gotten bonus points."

She was joking, but Sirius exclaimed, "Why didn't anyone tell me that sooner?!"

"Because we didn't want you to be arrested," I laughed.

"Oh, right," he realized. "That wouldn't have been good."

"But think of the looks on their faces," I said.

He laughed.

We walked outside and I asked, "When does Peter get done with his Charms exam?"

"His exam started later than ours," Remus answered. "He'll probably catch up to us at dinner."

"He's been acting weird," I explained to Lily. "We're trying to keep an eye on him so that we can figure out which girl he's fawning over."

She laughed.

"Hey, look," Sirius said and stopped walking.

We all looked to where he was pointing.

Jen and Regulus were under a tree, fighting for an apple. Both of them had their wands out and they were casting spells on the apple to try to give them the upper hand. Jen was laughing, which was good to see after her depression of late.

Regulus shot the apple high into the air and then pushed Jen so that she rolled away. He reached up to catch the apple, but she shot it away and then did a Summoning Spell. He interfered with it, and the fight was on again.

Sirius laughed. "They're fun to watch, aren't they?" It had been hard for him, but he had eventually accepted that his brother really was a good guy.

"They are," Lily agreed and laughed with him.

I was smiling.

Finally, Regulus blocked one of Jen's spells and the apple fell right into his hands. He held it up in victory and Jen laughed as she rolled onto her back in defeat.

Instead of chomping into it like I had thought he would – I had assumed that both of them had wanted to eat an apple and there was only one, so they had to fight for it – he held it out to her and said something.

She smiled as she sat up and reached out for the apple.

He slipped it into her hand and then grabbed her wrist, pulling her closer so that he could press a chaste kiss against her lips.

It was weird seeing someone kissing my sister, but I could deal with it.

Lily snuggled closer to me. "I'm glad that you two are okay again."

"I was stupid before," I admitted. "I should have listened to her. You were right."

She was beaming.

From under the tree, Jen offered Regulus a bite of her apple and laughed when he got juice everywhere. He grinned and smeared some on her face, bringing on another round of fake fighting.

"Come on," I laughed. "Let's go break the lovebirds up."


	72. Chapter 72

~James' POV~

"We did it," I told Lily as we took our seats on the train. "We are officially done with school."

"I can't believe it," she sighed. "I'm really going to miss it."

"You could always become a professor," I jokingly suggested. "Then you could go back every year."

"I wouldn't want to be a professor," she said.

"And _we_ don't want you to," Sirius added. "Those poor kids. Think of what they'd have to go through."

I threw a wrapper at him.

He caught it and laughed.

"Oh, hey," Lily said, pointing. "There's Jen and Regulus."

"Merlin," I sighed, but smiled. "They're like one person now. Joined at the hip."

"Jen!" Sirius called and waved her into our compartment. "We have room in here. Wormtail took sick and went home a day early."

"I heard about that," Jen said as she led her and Regulus into the compartment. "Is he okay?"

"I couldn't tell that anything was wrong with him," I shrugged. "But who knows?"

Jen sat by Sirius and Regulus sat beside her. Their hands remained linked.

I coughed.

They remained oblivious.

I coughed again.

Jen raised her eyebrow at me. "Are you sick, too, James?"

I rolled my eyes. "Let's keep things appropriate," I said. "No public displays of affection."

She looked pointedly at Lily and me.

"That's different," I said.

She rolled her eyes and said, "You'll get over it."

Regulus wasn't quite sure what to think.

I sighed, but changed the subject. "So, Moony, plans for the summer?"

"I'll go home and pack everything up. Then I'm going to travel for a bit."

"Better be back for my wedding," I told him.

He laughed. "Wouldn't miss it."

"Good."

"Speaking of the wedding," Lily said, "Jen, I'm going to need your help a lot this summer so that we can get everything ready."

"Good thing we have magic," Jen said with a grin. "Otherwise we might not be able to get everything ready in time."

"Do you think I should talk to a Muggle florist?" she asked. "Or just use magic to create flowers?"

"I would use magic," Jen said. "Less complicated."

"Can we talk about the wedding later?" I asked. "Not that I'm not excited about it, but it isn't all that exciting to talk about."

Lily rolled her eyes but indulged me. "What did you want to talk about instead?"

I shrugged and looked at Sirius. "What do we have planned for the summer?"

"Chaos," he grinned. "Wild chaos."

Lily groaned. "Of course you're not done with pranks and such just because you graduated."

"That shouldn't come as a surprise," Sirius told her.

"I suppose not," she agreed.

I looked at Regulus. "What about you?"

"Huh?" Regulus asked. He and Jen had been having a whispered conversation that I had a feeling I didn't want to be privy to.

"Plans for the summer?" I asked.

He suddenly looked pale and looked helplessly at Jen.

Jen sighed. "Mum didn't tell you?"

I looked at her, confused. "Tell me what?"

Regulus took over, his voice soft, almost apprehensive. "Well, when my mum found out about Jen and me… well, she wasn't happy. She said it was a disgrace to the family, even though Jen is a pureblood. Anyway, she told me I could choose Jen or our family. I chose Jen."

Sirius looked proud. "Good choice, mate. So where are you going to stay, since obviously they won't be accepting you back at that house?"

"With us," Jen said.

My mouth fell open. "What?!"

"I wrote Mum," Jen said, matter of fact. "I explained the situation and she said that Regulus can have the other guest room."

"But… but he's…" I shook my head. "You two are _involved_! He can't stay there!"

"Do you think we're going to have sex on the couch or something?" Jen asked sardonically. "You and Lily are the only sexually active ones here."

Lily and Regulus both blushed, and I was fairly certain that I was blushing, too. "Jen, come on."

"You started it," she said simply.

Sirius couldn't stop laughing.

Even Remus looked amused.

"So…" Lily said, changing the subject. "No one has any exciting plans for the summer. How boring are we?"

"Pretty boring," Remus agreed.

Sirius was still laughing.

Jen angled her body towards Regulus and they began murmuring in low voices.

"James," Lily warned when I opened my mouth to say something.

I sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll leave them be. But I'm leaving all sorts of booby traps outside of Jen's room after she goes to sleep every night."

Lily laughed. "I would expect nothing less."

~Jen's POV~

"I'm nervous," he admitted.

"They'll love you, Regulus. You have nothing to worry about."

"Of course that's what you'd say," he grumbled. "What if they don't?"

"They will."

"You're so sure."

I grinned. "Of course I am."

We weaved through the people on the platform and I finally spotted my parents standing with James, Lily, and Sirius. Remus had already left.

I ran to my mother, gave her a hug, and did the same with my father. We exchanged a quick conversation and then I stepped back and gestured Regulus forward. "Mum, Dad, this is Regulus Black."

Regulus stepped forward slowly and offered his hand to my father. "Mr. Potter."

My father eyes Regulus for half a minute and then stuck out his hand, a slow smile spreading across his face. "Great to meet you, Regulus."

Regulus relaxed enough to let my mother hug him.

"Shall we go?" my father asked.

"You can go with me," I told Regulus and he gratefully grabbed my arm.

We made it to my home and I led him inside, first showing him to his room before I gave him the tour of the house. Lily and James disappeared into James' room, Sirius had gone to his room to unpack, and my parents had gone to Diagon Alley to get a few things.

"Come on," I told Regulus and pulled him into my room.

His eyes widened as I closed the door behind us. "Jen…"

"My brother's too distracted with Lily," I laughed. "It's okay."

He relaxed about one percent.

Then, his eyes wandered my room. "I always wondered what your room looked like."

"It's nothing special."

He walked over to the bookshelf and scanned the titles. "Wide variety of titles here."

"Variety is the spice of life."

"Muggle saying?"

I laughed. "Yeah."

He continued to walk around, this time focusing on the pictures that I had. Most of them were of me and James, but there were some with the other Marauders too. And some with my roommates.

He then moved on to the stuffed animals that I had lying about randomly. "I never pegged you as a stuffed animal person."

"I'm not," I laughed. "But when I was little, Mum always used to get me a stuffed animal as a present. I never had the heart to tell her that they creeped me out."

"Nice of you," he commented.

He hit the closet next, and nothing there surprised him. He continued to explore my room, occasionally commenting, but mostly just observing in silence.

I eventually grew tired of this and walked up behind him, wrapping my arms around him and standing up on the tips of my toes to press a kiss to his neck. "Are you going to keep exploring my room?"

He chuckled and tipped his head back to give me better access. "Do you have something else to entertain me with?"

"Maybe…" I said slowly, grinning.

He turned and pulled me close. "Like what?"

I grabbed his arm and slowly backed up, towards my bed. "Come find out."

I slid onto the bed and pulled him down on top of me.

He smiled, his eyes full of want. "Jen."

"Kiss me," I ordered.

He laughed and obeyed.

After a while, he kissed my temple before rolling off to lie beside me. "Sing me a song."

"What song?"

"I don't care," he replied. "A Muggle song."

"I dreamed a dream in time gone by," I began to sing. "When hope was high and life worth living. I dreamed that love would never die. I dreamed that God would be forgiving."

He pulled me closer.

"Then I was young and unafraid. And dreams were made and used and wasted. There was no ransom to be paid. No song unsung, no wine untasted. But the tigers come at night. With their voices soft as thunder. As they tear your hope apart. As they turn your dream to shame…"

"He slept a summer by my side. He filled my days with endless wonder. He took my childhood in his stride. But he was gone when autumn came."

I was unable to finish because Regulus pulled me on top of him and began to kiss me once more. I let him, drowning in the fire of the kiss.

"I love you," I whispered against his neck.

"Prove it."

I laughed and kissed him again.


End file.
